This is another in-depth CSP so we need to make sure we have studied this text across media language, audience, industry and representation. Unfortunately, due to exams we don't have a huge amount of lesson time to work on this CSP so you will need to do some important work at home on the case study tasks below.
Zoella: notes
Language
GLOW: Key words
Blog: A regularly updated website usually from an individual, written in an informal style.
Vlog: An online blog using videos.
Convergence: When two or more media forms meet in one e.g Zoella’s website where you can buy her book, read her Twitter feed, see her Instagram photos and buy her beauty products.
Online dialogue: Communication online e.g between a celebrity and a fan.
Endorsement: When a celebrity or influential figure recommends something to the public.
Meet Zoella
Zoella (born 1990), real name Zoe Sugg, started a fashion, beauty and vlog on YouTube in 2009 called ‘Zoella’. Her online profile has grown hugely since 2009:
- 11.6 million subscribers on YouTube [November 2019]
- 10 million followers on Instagram [November 2019]
- 2.5 million likes on Facebook [November 2019]
- Over 1 billion total views
Her success has led her to branch into a range of other forms of merchandising and she has significant influence on her target audience.
She [and other vloggers] symbolise how creative use of technology can create a new generation of self-made online celebrities. She also is a good case study in how celebrities can participate in online dialogue with their audiences and collaborate with other YouTube content providers. Zoella is considered a digital influencer in the modern media landscape.
Activity: check out her YouTube channel here.
Zoella: background and history
Who is Zoella and what does she do?
- Fashion, beauty hauls and ‘favourites’ other videos, showcasing her favourite products from the previous month. These are mostly beauty or fashion picks.
- Second channel MoreZoella, contains mostly vlogs where she talks viewers through her day.
- Appears on channel Daily Mix with other Youtubers and does collaborations for their channels.
- Launched a range of beauty products under the brand name Zoella Beauty in 2014. The ‘bath and beauty range’ was very successful.
- In 2016 Zoella and her brother (Youtuber Joe) released branded merchandise under the name ‘Sugg Life’ which is a play on ‘Thug Life’ (popularised by 90s rap and a recent meme on the internet)
- Her debut novel, Girl Online, was released in November 2014 and broke the record for highest first ever book sales for a first time novelist. The book is aimed at a young adult audience and features a 15 year old anonymous blogger whose blog goes viral. She has published two more novels and a non-fiction book giving advice on entertaining guests and hosting parties.
- Convergence: She is dating Youtube star Alfie Deyes and announced their relationship on a public blog post in 2013. Her younger brother, Joe Sugg, is also a vlogger and internet personality known as ThatcherJoe. She was featured in the 2014 single for ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ raising money to help the West Africans combat Ebola. She has appeared on adverts and on television panel shows such as Loose Women and This Morning. She was also on the comic relief edition of The Great British Bake Off.
- The Telegraph cited Zoella as one of ‘Britain’s most influential Tweeters’ in 2013.
Vlogging: codes and conventions
Reminder: Codes and conventions are established practices that tend to underpin different media products. Zoella uses a range of range of codes and conventions. These tend to focus on:
- A Vlog name which gives information about what it contains.
- A question that underpins post.
- Quirky music.
- Writing on the screen.
- Speaker central to the screen and speaks directly to the camera.
- Some props to keep video engaging.
- Lots of cuts (jump cuts – where the camera position is the same).
- Different angles and shots for variety.
- Personal – this builds connection and trust with audience.
- Often conversational and informal in tone.
- Makes the start as compelling as possible: the hook.
Industries
How does Zoella make money?
It has been calculated that in 2014, Zoella earned £443.41 per hour. How does she make this money through a YouTube channel?
- YouTube pre-roll adverts: YouTube vloggers make ‘on average $0.001 per view.’ – and with Zoe’s channels averaging 22 million video views a month that works out a £15,000 monthly cheque.
- Blog: Away from Youtube, Zoella.co.uk the written blog then pulls in 7.4 million unique views a month, which generates an estimated £4,000 a month from ads too.
- Product Placement: Many companies want Zoella to showcase and promote their products and she can demand up to £20,000 when she does this in her videos.
- Beauty range: Zoella has launched her own beauty range sold through Superdrug. She managed to sell a record breaking 70,000 units in its first month alone. With the average price of one of the products being £6.50, that works out an estimated £455,000 in sales. It is unknown how much of a cut Zoe sees of that amount. In the following four months since Superdrug released these stats, it’s estimated the range has gone on to sell a further 150,000 units resulting in an additional £975,000 of sales. This has been an excellent way for Superdrug to reach their target teenage audience.
- Books: Zoella’s ‘Girl Online’ book series racked up £2 million in sales so far by February 2015, which Zoe will presumably receive a percentage of. If this wasn’t staggering enough, Zoe was also paid a whopping £100,000 advance before it even hit the shelves.
- Vlog Tour: linking with other popular Vloggers, tours around the UK [including more expensive VIP packages to meet the celebs] generate substantial income.
Industry collaborations
Zoella has established regular online collaborations with other popular YouTubers to produce new, popular content and to increase audience figures.
Collaborations playlist: view Zoella's YouTube collaborations here.
We are increasingly seeing Zoella (and others) becoming more convergent with these traditional media. As Zoella has become more successful, she has made more appearances in traditional media such as TV, newspapers and magazines:
Audience
Zoella: teenage target audience
Think about Zoella's target audience and how she uses media language choices to attract that particular demographic. What would her specific target audience be:
- Gender?
- Age range?
- Psychographics?
Zoella: audience pleasures
Applying Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory, Zoella offers her target audience a range of audience pleasures. Her relaxed, informal videos offer a sense of entertainment and escapism to teenagers who also feel a sense of personal identity in seeing their own lifestyles and interests reflected in her vlogs. Over time, audiences build a personal relationship with Zoella and want to follow updates from her life. She also provides information and learning through make-up tips, 'life-hacks' and more.
Zoella - love her or hate her?
Applying Stuart Hall's Reception theory, Zoella's ‘dominant reading’ is as a down-to-earth girl that the audience can relate to and align themselves with. However, she is so well known that some people will take an oppositional reading of her work. Indeed, she has been criticised for some of her decisions and videos.
Zoella: criticisms
- In 2014 Sugg was criticised for filming whilst driving her car.
- In 2017 there was negative publicity surrounding the release of her 12-door advent calendar for which she was charging £50. The calendar was criticised for being ‘over-priced’ and ‘poor quality’, containing some items such as a small packet of confetti.
- In 2017, she had to issue an apology after controversy emerged when people brought up social media posts she had made between 2009-2012 mocking gay people and ‘chavs’. She apologised and said that she had not intended to offend anyone.
- Vloggers in general have been criticised for making up to £20,000 a month through being paid to promote certain products and therefore influencing young people.
- Personally, Zoella has been criticised for being a poor role model for girls, suggesting that her message is that being pretty and feminine and interested in looks is important.
- It has been suggested that she used a ‘ghost writer’ for her novel but this has not been officially confirmed. This book has been criticised by UK newspapers for ‘not being challenging enough’.
Representations
Zoella raises many interesting questions regarding how she constructs her representation in the media. How does Zoella represent herself? Is this the real Zoella or merely a media construction of herself designed to sell products?
What representation of celebrity does she provide? Is a self-made YouTube celebrity more authentic or positive than a traditional music or TV star?
Does Zoella provide a positive or negative representation of women?
- Zoella was listed as one of The Telegraph’s ‘40 best beauty bloggers’ in 2014 and ‘Queen of the Haul’ by British Vogue.
- She was included in the 2015 Debrett’s 50, listing the most influential people in Britain.
- In 2015 she was named ‘Most Inspirational Woman of the Decade’ in technology by Grazia.
- She was also named the 34th Sexiest Woman in the world by FHM magazine.
- She has included more ‘adult’ themed photos on her Instagram and been criticised (see above) since her target fan base are pre-teen and early teenage girls.
Create a blogpost called 'Zoella CSP case study' and complete all the following questions under the subheadings Language, Representation, Industries and Audience.
Language
Read this Marie Clare article on Zoella as an online phenomenon.
1) Who is Zoella and why is she famous? How many subscribers does Zoella's YouTube channel have currently?
2) What is convergence?
3) What are Zoella's videos about? Find five video titles and write them here:
4) What are the codes and conventions of vlogging videos?
5) How does Zoella use media language choices to create her online identity? Write about Zoella's use of mise-en-scene (CLAMPS) - particularly costume and make-up.
Industries
1) How does Zoella make money? (You might want to read this Heatworld feature for more on this.)
2) What is a digital influencer? Why is Zoella considered a digital influencer?
3) Why do companies want to place their products in Zoella's videos?
4) Why are YouTube collaborations so important for helping digital influencers like Zoella to grow?
5) How has Zoella moved into a more traditional media landscape in recent years?
Audience
1) Who is the target audience for Zoella's channel?
2) How are audiences encouraged to participate in or feel part of Zoella's brand?
3) What audience pleasures are provided by Zoella's videos and associated products?
3) What audience pleasures are provided by Zoella's videos and associated products?
4) Applying Stuart Hall's Reception theory, what would a preferred and oppositional reading of Zoella?
Preferred (people who love Zoella):
Oppositional (people who hate Zoella):
5) Why has Zoella been criticised by some people?
Representations
Read this Independent article arguing Zoella is a bad role model for young women.
Next, read this Independent article arguing the opposite.
1) What is your opinion on this debate - is Zoella a positive role model for young women?
2) What representations of women are provided by Zoella?
3) What representations of celebrity are provided by Zoella? Is a self-made YouTube celebrity more authentic or positive than a traditional music or TV star?
4) How does Zoella represent herself? Is this the real Zoe Suggs or a media construction designed to sell products?
5) What criticisms could be levelled at the representation of Zoella?
Grade 8/9 extension tasks: reading and response
To give you up-to-date information on Zoella, read this HITC feature on what Zoella has done recently after scaling back her YouTube videos.
Read this critical article on The Tab Calling time on Zoella. What criticisms are levelled at Zoella in this article? Do you agree with the writer's argument?
Read this excellent New Statesman feature on the moral aspect of how influencers like Zoella make money.
There is a lot of work here but you will have lesson time and a fair deadline. Due date: Thursday 12 December.
