Individual Critiques & Analysis
With the rapid development of YouTube, various YouTubers pop up and multitudinous and diversified contexts have been created. YouTube creates a platform for us to communicate not only limit to face to face communication but also connect with others with a push of a button virtually.
According to the result from Statista, there are more than 38 million YouTube channels out there and the number of channels is still growing strong. It is no exaggeration to say that under this competitive environment, the one who utilizes online and offline tools to have an insight and interact with audiences can stick out in the crowd.
BOMBA (笨吧) and Trial and Error (試當真) are two Hong Kong YouTuber that have a similar positioning and target audiences. Their videos are mainly about some resonance moments of daily life in Hong Kong. BOMBA was founded inf 2012 and Trial and Error was founded in 2020. BOMBA flourished during 2013-2018 but has been on the slide since the charging dispute in 2019. BOMBA released a video using YouTube’s new function ‘Paid content’. It is controversial because some audiences and netizens did not accept this approach. Under the debatable responses, the method how BOMBA to tackle the problem is to release a Q&A video and then transform it to another platform founded by them.
The new platform is called ‘Roarship’ which is a streaming platform that offers Roarship series, mini-films, and documentaries, etc. However, compared with streaming services like Netflix, Roarship shared similar charges and positioning but it did not offer a wide variety of series and shows. More, as a YouTube channel that has around three hundred thousand subscribers, BOMBA did not utilize YouTube as a platform to promote ‘Roarship’. Also, because of earlier controversy with netizens, BOMBA deleted all the videos on its YouTube channel. Those actions magnified the conflict between BOMBA and its audiences and lead to the ending of ‘Roarship’.
The new platform is called ‘Roarship’ which is a streaming platform that offers Roarship series, mini-films, and documentaries, etc. However, compared with streaming services like Netflix, Roarship shared similar charges and positioning but it did not offer a wide variety of series and shows. More, as a YouTube channel that has around three hundred thousand subscribers, BOMBA did not utilize YouTube as a platform to promote ‘Roarship’. Also, because of earlier controversy with netizens, BOMBA deleted all the videos on its YouTube channel. Those actions magnified the conflict between BOMBA and its audiences and lead to the ending of ‘Roarship’.
Take their 1st-anniversary live show held at Kowloon Bay International Trade and Exhibition Centre as an example, they used Dutch Auction as the strategy to sell the tickets. Dutch Auction is an auction but what is special about it is that the price of the item is lowered until it gets a bid. It is a quick-witted approach since for one thing, it tests the market responses toward the show, for another thing it went viral on social media and meanwhile made a widespread promotion of the show.
It is no doubt that Trial and Error unitizes the plus of their YouTube channel and expands their business successfully. The key point is that Trial and Error listen to the audiences’ option with an open-mind attitude. This attitude could be applied in any business and brand to make brand positioning on a right track