Branding: Individual V.S. Group

[Niflick]

Hello Yttalk,

I want to talk about what you think is more popular or what you feel more connected to a person's youtube channel or a group/company's youtube channel. Let me give you an example of my channel so that you might understand what I am trying to get at.

My channel is Level Up Dude TV, I am the host of the channel but in all honesty it is just me. I created a group brand because I felt like it would be easier to act professional behind a facade. Do you feel that a group makes the viewer more confident in subscribing or viewing content on Youtube?

The fact is that the most popular youtubers are individuals that become celebrities rather than complete brands. I think that people feel more connected and become a fan of a person.

Let's talk about the pros and cons of being an individual youtuber rather than a group or act like a group.

Individual ( PewDiePie, RWJ, Jenna Marbles, iJustine)

Pros

• People feel more connected to a person
• People can relate to a person
• People want to be that person or feel like the person is their role model

Cons

• The competition is a lot higher
• Many of a same type of channels; same humor, same content
• People might think you are copying someones style and haters will be a problem (ie: PewDiePie)

Group (Machinima, IGN, Rooster Teeth, Cinema Sins)

Pros

• Professionalism
• More variety of content (Can be a pro and a con)
• Less Competition

Cons

• People go to your channel for a specific video rather than your channel as a whole
• Viewers may not feel comfortable with different hosts
• People do not feel connected to the channel

Note: All this information is my own opinion, but is backed with some research from my side.

I guess I started this thread because I feel that acting as a group was the wrong decision and I should of just made it more personal so people would feel more connected. I would like your input and to start a discussion of what people think about the Individual Channel VS Group Channel debate.

 

[WolfWraith]

It depends on the group channels for me, if it's got the same personalities appearing in every video I'm okay, unless it's say like Catie Wayne, I generally prefer her individual stuff but she's also on group channels where she only hosts certain videos which can get annoying as I have no interest in the other hosts. Only group channel I'm subbed to off the top of my head would be Two Best Friends Play and I always see either Matt or Patt in every video, if not Liam and Woolie which is okay. If I sub to an individual I'd prefer if they stayed that way but if they did change to group stuff on their main channel or something, I'd prefer to see them in every video and not have to guess which 1s they're in.

 

[markkaz]

The fact is that the most popular youtubers are individuals that become celebrities rather than complete brands

One person can become the brand. I am racegrooves but racegrooves is more than just YouTube videos.