YouTube

[Disney Frenhines]

This is just my personal view, so please don't give me a hard time if you disagree.
I'm one of many who love to watch videos of all things Disney, either to get advice and help on my planning, deciding what and where to eat and just enjoy better quality videos of parades and fireworks than I could ever do, I no longer record them myself preferring to not watch them through a screen.
There are a lot of good channels, The Dis and DFB being favourites, but, there seems to be a lot of channels who just put up tons of videos that are very self absorbed, you don't get anything from them, which is fine except when they let on that it is a freebie courtesy of Disney. One, in particular, comes to mind, putting up overly long videos that are all about them wandering around, I used to watch them a lot before realising I got nothing from it except the feeling you get from neighbours who insist on showing you photos and videos of everything they do no matter how boring.
So, complaining aside, I feel cross that Disney comps them cruises, meals and event tickets because they are considered 'influencers' while the rest of us have to pay out for our stuff from our hard earned money.
I have no problem with with these people posting their videos, we are not being forced to watch them, but, as an AP holder from the UK I can't even add the DDP to my reservation and to see them getting goodies for nothing, well it'd be nice to be rewarded for our loyalty especially with the giant hike in price. How about a loyalty program where random AP holders are given a reward on scanning their ticket, tickets to a hard ticket event or a free meal at a TS restaurant. Reward us out of state AP holders instead of YouTube 'influencers' as we are the ones really spending the dosh before we even get to the parks.

 

[Shir Kahn]

Disney is giving them this stuff so that the people who watch them will want that stuff as well and will spend money on it. It's another form of advertising, just one that gives more information about the product.

I'm an out-of-country passholder and while I don't disagree that random loyalty bonuses would be nice, it's not really connected to what you're seeing with Disney and these youtubers.

 

[Elle23]

Can I just say that I loathe the term “influencer” and wish it would just go away?

 

[BadPinkTink]

unfortunately this type of advertising wont go away.

Many large companies such as Disney now allocate part of their advertising and marketing budgets to what is known in the industry as influencer marketing.

For example before the internet Disney would probably have put ads in newspapers or magazines. Remember all those teen magazines in the 1980's and 1990's which are no longer onsale. Back then that was the way to reach the teenage and twenty something market.

Now those in that age group dont buy magazines, they watch YouTube videos. The budget that would have been spent on the magazine ads in the 1980's is now been spent by giving the influencers "free stuff".

However, technically its not free. There would be a contract and certain obligations for the YouTube person. They may have to put the videos online at the same time every week, no matter what is going on their personal loves. They may have to follow a script given to them by Disney. They may have to mention the product a specific amount of times in the video. They may have to promote the video on other social media platforms, and Disney may specify how many Twitter or Instagram posts they have to do. They may have to have specific amount of channel subscribers to even get free stuff from Disney.

Also Disney marketing department would want to know the YouTubes person figures, ie how many times a month they put new content on their channel, how many subscribers they have, what their average viewing figures for each video, how many likes and comments their videos get etc etc. On Youtube you can get a huge range of analytical data for the channel and each video.

Disney would also look for Return On Investment. For example, if they give the YouTube person a free new snack, which they havent put on the menu yet, and the YouTube person says OMG, this is amazing, you have to try it, its available at Flos V8. Disney will then monitor if people turn up at Flos V8 asking about this snack and how many they have sold in a set time after the video has gone online. If Disney feel that the promotion of the item by the YouTube person did not result in the sales figures they were expecting, Disney may not give the YouTube person free stuff in the future.

 

[Dug720]

At least they now have to make a disclaimer that they are “sponsored” or “hosted” if they are. I am more likely to put more weight on the opinions of those who pay their own way and give their thoughts - though even then sometimes I am suspicious that they are being overly enthusiastic in hopes of becoming one who is “sponsored”.

I do wish Disney would at least make sure they had correct information though. The Trackers had several erroneous statements in their cruise vlog - I could only get through the first bit of the first one (there may have been more). It doesn’t look good on a company when their “influencers” are getting facts incorrect.

 

[Shir Kahn]

At least they now have to make a disclaimer that they are “sponsored” or “hosted” if they are. I am more likely to put more weight on the opinions of those who pay their own way and give their thoughts - though even then sometimes I am suspicious that they are being overly enthusiastic in hopes of becoming one who is “sponsored”.

I do wish Disney would at least make sure they had correct information though. The Trackers had several erroneous statements in their cruise vlog - I could only get through the first bit of the first one (there may have been more). It doesn’t look good on a company when their “influencers” are getting facts incorrect.

Lol, Tim and Jen quite frequently make mistakes but they're still great to watch.

 

[BadPinkTink]

This is not just relating to Disney bloggers and YouTubers but right across the board from beauty and makeup to health and fitness and fashion.

The disclosing and transparency about sponsored, getting free items or services or being paid by a company to promote products and services is a big issue in the blogging and YouTube marketing industry. Different countries have different rules and regulations.

There is a huge split between those who do disclose and those who dont. Many of the influencers are reluctant to disclose as up till about 2 years ago they could earn huge amounts of money tax free and for the top percentage live the Kardasian lifestyle.

In Ireland for example, Revenue class free items as benefit in kind, ie if you are given a free gym membership under the condition that you write a blog post and promote the gym on social media.

Many influencers disagree with this and as a result are reluctant to disclose free items as they dont want to pay tax on those items. They feel that they should only pay tax when they receive actual cash payment.

Then there is the issue of advertising standards, many influencers have been fined by advertising authorities for false advertising, or misleading information.

 

[Dug720]

Lol, Tim and Jen quite frequently make mistakes but they're still great to watch.

But my point is, Disney is not going to stand by their mistakes. They are not going to be all “Oh, they said that? Well, ok. We will figure out how you can have this thing that doesn’t really exist.” Which is why if Disney is going to sponsor them, they should ensure that they are giving correct information.

 

[Shir Kahn]

But my point is, Disney is not going to stand by their mistakes. They are not going to be all “Oh, they said that? Well, ok. We will figure out how you can have this thing that doesn’t really exist.” Which is why if Disney is going to sponsor them, they should ensure that they are giving correct information.

I think Disney knows by now what they get from Tim and Jen. At the very least, it doesn't seem to bother them, because it seems like Tim and Jen are getting the comps more often than ever lately.

 

[StarSpeckledSky]

I think Disney knows by now what they get from Tim and Jen. At the very least, it doesn't seem to bother them, because it seems like Tim and Jen are getting the comps more often than ever lately.

They're still really fun to watch! But I do agree about correct info.

 

[FCDub]

No issues. I learned a long time ago that spending time worrying about what other people have is a fruitless exercise.

 

[Wild4Walt]

I envy those who have made quality videos, comps or not. They have found their passion and share it with hundreds, sometimes thousands of strangers. They use their own time and resources for the most part. As an old travel agent, the perks the vloggers get as in line with that we used to get. Why did we get them, because we were the one's selling the product. The internet changes that kind of thing for us to a degree ( travel agents ) , but I look at vlogger's as the new era. It's smart business for Disney to work with them and they are sort of influencers.