Scribd
Upload
100 views2 pages

PewDiePie's Marketing Impact

Felix Kjellberg created his YouTube channel PewDiePie in 2010 while he was a university student uploading gaming videos. His foul-mouthed videos gained popularity, earning over 1 million subscribers by 2011 when he dropped out of school to focus on YouTube full-time. By 2015, PewDiePie had over 40 million subscribers and $7.4 million in annual earnings, though he only earned 20 cents per subscriber. Kjellberg interacts frequently with his massive fan base through comments and maintains his status as an opinion former in the gaming community. Marketers can benefit from sponsoring his popular videos to reach his large, engaged audience, but there are also risks if future controversies damage his reputation.

Uploaded by

balakumaransanjeevan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
100 views2 pages

PewDiePie's Marketing Impact

Felix Kjellberg created his YouTube channel PewDiePie in 2010 while he was a university student uploading gaming videos. His foul-mouthed videos gained popularity, earning over 1 million subscribers by 2011 when he dropped out of school to focus on YouTube full-time. By 2015, PewDiePie had over 40 million subscribers and $7.4 million in annual earnings, though he only earned 20 cents per subscriber. Kjellberg interacts frequently with his massive fan base through comments and maintains his status as an opinion former in the gaming community. Marketers can benefit from sponsoring his popular videos to reach his large, engaged audience, but there are also risks if future controversies damage his reputation.

Uploaded by

balakumaransanjeevan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Marketing Online: PewDiePie

In April 2010, Felix Kjellberg, then a 21-year-old Swedish engineering student, created a new
account on YouTube. For some time, he had been posting videos of himself playing video
games on YouTube, but, having forgotten the password to the initial account, he was forced
to set up a new one: PewDiePie. Little did he know that this account was going to change his
life.
Kjellberg’s videos turned out to be very popular. In fact, Kjellberg’s foul-mouthed videos
have dominated YouTube over the past years. Many attribute his success to the attention he
pays to his fans. Kjellberg spends lots of time talking about them, answering their questions
in the YouTube comments section, and forming a community of ‘bros’.
In 2011, he dropped out of university to be able to devote more time to his YouTube
channel and, in 2012, the channel had more than 1 million subscribers. Since then, Kjellberg
has broken numerous records on YouTube. For example, his PewDiePie channel grew from
12 million subscribers in August 2013 to more than 20 million in January 2014. In September
2015, PewDiePie was the world’s largest independent YouTube channel, with 10.1 billion
total views and 39.3 million total subscribers. By January 2016, the channel had grown to
more than 11 billion views and close to 42 million subscribers [As of September 2021 he has
over 110 million subscribers].
In 2015, media reported that Kjellberg had made approximately US$7.4 million (SEK36.7
million) via his YouTube channel in 2014. Although the figure is staggering in itself, relating it
to his popularity clearly highlights why many YouTubers turn to sponsorships for funding. In
fact, given the size of his channel at that time, this means that he made only about 20.6
cents per subscriber that year.
Questions:
1. At what stage would you say that Kjellberg moved from being an opinion leader to
becoming an opinion former? Is it possible to say?
2. Visit the PewDiePie YouTube channel. To what extent is Kjellberg’s communication
with his followers based on interaction and dialogue?
3. What opportunities does PewDiePie offer to marketers?
4. As a Youtube vlogger what risks are offered in sponsoring PewDiePie?

Source: Baines et al, 2017; p. 227


1. Opinion formers – they are people whose opinion are trusted due to their
knowledge and understanding of the subject. (influences a larger group of through
media)
Opinion leaders – they are people who receive information and pass it to their peers.
(influences a small group)
the time when his YouTube channel reached a broad international audience,
especially when he hit the 1 million subscribers, he started influencing a mass
audience and broke numerous records and became a trend setter for the gaming
community.
 The transition occurred when he dropped out of university in 2011 to fully
dedicate his time to his YouTube channel, rapidly gaining a massive audience
and reaching 1 million subscribers in less than a year.
2. He values his fans, and he frequently interacts with his community by responding to
their comments, addressing fans enquires and also showcasing fan art. He has
cultivated a strong community through interactions and dialogues among his
viewers.
3. Brands can sponsor one of his videos or place their products on one of his videos or
collaborate with him on content that promotes their products or services.
Since PewDiePie's audience trusts him, they would trust the product as well as he
approves its quality. Therefore, their product could become a recommended choice
which will increase its credibility and desirability among his audience.

4. PewDiePie has faced controversies before, and if a brand sponsors him, there's a risk
of negative reactions if more controversies happen.
 PewDiePie's content and behaviour can be unpredictable.
 Sometimes PewDiePie ‘s reputation might not be the same. Some time it
might be affected. In that case, it will affect his sponsors as well.
 Some people are using Ad-blockers to avoid seeing regular ads

You might also like