Imagine you have just spent a day shopping at the mall. You come home with your haul of goodies, start up your web-cam and begin a show-and-tell of every item you have purchased. You describe in detail each feature of your new ever so totally cute purchases! You have just made a haul video! Yes, this actually exists and it is a growing Internet phenomenon. There are over 150,000 “haul” videos posted on YouTube and counting! Haul videos blend shopping and technology, two of teenagers favorite things! They consist mainly of giddy teenage girls showing off their purchases, usually telling where the purchase was made, how much it cost and giving a sort of mini-product review. Their hauls don’t just include clothing, there is everything from accessories, make-up, shoes, and even bargain bin finds found at local drugstores.
Many of the videos have had hundreds of thousands of hits, and some of these “vloggers” or video bloggers, have become big time Internet stars! The vloggers can really cash in too. Some receive compensation and merchandise from retailers. Many of them are in the YouTube Partner Program, this allows them to get paid for making videos, and to get a portion of the ad revenue. Two of the most popular haul vloggers are sisters, Blair Fowler, 16, and Elle Fowler, 21, from Tennessee. Collectively, the Blair sister’s videos have been viewed over 75 million times! Blair and Elle’s 7-year-old sister is also posting her own videos. Her very first video post was seen over one million times! These videos can also be very good for retail sales, in one Fowler sister’s video posting when the sisters gushed over a watch purchase, that watch sold out within 24 hours on the company’s web-site, and the company’s web-site crashed from the heavy volume of traffic!
With over one million hours of unsolicited advertising it is not surprising that many major retailers are taking this trend very seriously. Forever 21, J.C. Penney’s, and American Eagle have all taken an interest in this Internet phenomenon. J.C. Penney is even incorporating these videos into their fall back-to-school marketing plan. J.C. Penney has deals with six girls to create back-to-school videos in exchange for gift cards. On the J.C. Penney web-site teen shoppers are encouraged to make their own videos of their J.C. Penney purchases (of course!) and then submit the video directly to the company’s web site.
The fact that many of these vloggers are receiving compensation raises the question of authenticity. The appeal of these videos is their personal, genuine feel, but with companies compensating haulers with gift cards, etc, there is an element of mistrust. The Federal Trade Commission does require that haulers disclose who paid for items being reviewed. Haul video vloggers are allowed to accept free merchandise, but they must divulge if they are being paid by a company to discuss a product.
Teenage trends can come and go very rapidly, so haul videos could quickly go out of fashion. That makes it a risk to marketers, but for this fall season at least, it seems to me a unique and inexpensive way for retailers to reach Generation Y and hopefully cash in on the back-to-school buying dollars.
