Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Davor Igrić, senior community manager, Dialog komunikacije
“These kids will devour us in a couple of years…” These exact words came from a colleague of mine who same as I visited this year’s BalkanTube Fest, which was held last weekend in Belgrade. And he was right.
Screaming, disorder, madness. This would be the three-word description of the weekend in Belgrade’s Sava Center, where the biggest regional YouTube conference took place. On one hand, playful kids, and the other, tired parents. The former are glued to their phones, and the latter are glued to them – the kids – not losing them out of their sights. And with good reason, because in the chaos of it all it’s quite possible to get lost.
All the best of the regional YouTube scene was in Belgrade for the weekend – from local stars like Mudja, Kovalska or Yasserstain, to the Croatian Joomboos. And their booth was somehow the most visited – fans were lining up to take a photo with their idols, prizes were shared and a new YouTube project promoted – the Videostar.
Lectures and Q&A sessions with YouTubers were interesting – from classic success stories of individual channels, to the collaboration with brands and advertisers on product placement in their videos. If this is your job, then this might definitely be useful for you, provided that you concentrate hard on what guests are speaking, mostly because the screaming of the youngsters when their idols take the stage or speak something often drowns the hosts and their microphones.
Five things I’ve learned at the BalkanTube Fest:
1. I’m 26 and yet I think I’m a bit old for this s***
Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, then a selfie… and then another round. Incessantly. I love social and have been doing it for the last eight years. But these kids don’t know the world without social networks. They live and grow up in it. Sometimes I feel as if I fell asleep one evening, and woke up the next morning in a world ruled by underage influencers. And that’s quite OK.
2. You can’t be too young or too old to be a YouTube star
While some started youtubing while still in primary school, others discovered this passion quite, quite later – Like Ćale for example, father of famous Mudja, who often appears as a guest in his videos.
3. Audience loves you? Here’s some free items, money, fame…
Age is of no importance for brands. If you can engage the audience, you are a perfect partner for them for a certain campaign. This was best illustrated by the collaboration between Fanta and Yasserstain, but also the example of beauty vloger Jana Dačović who already at the age of 16 has a body lotion named after her.
4. These kids “get it” how the marketing should function
They simply do everything naturally. There’s no acting, there’s no crossed fingers behind the back. They are charming and say whatever crosses their minds. They don’t mince words and often a swear word slips through. And that’s why the fans love them. Perhaps advertisers will not be happy about it, but this is why they became famous. And brands will have to accept that.
5. I can’t wait to see how these young boys and girls will change the world
When you see that kind of energy and passion in one place, it’s really easy to imagine the world that these young boys and girls are tailoring to fit them. It doesn’t matter if you are a boy or a girl on YouTube. It doesn’t matter if you are a Croat, a Bosnian, a Serb or a foreigner that doesn’t speak “our” language. The only important thing for them is that you are skilled in what you do, that you are fun and charming, and the audience will scream for you. And that’s the world I want to live in – a world without borders, which were erased by the social networks.