At the inspiration stage of travel, video content is not a new phenomenon in its ability to inspire, motivate and move audiences.
With infinite content available, there is an onus on content creators to develop highly original content that avoids the clichés captured by your typical travel ad. On top of that, there is pressure to cultivate a defined and sometimes unique audience demographic, and then produce future content according to the tastes of this cohort.
Trickier still, with growing scepticism surrounding media personalities and the ‘influencer marketing’ model, amassing millions of followers is no longer enough. Brands are confronted with the need to build a deeper connection with their audiences that transcends their subscriber count and focuses instead on building engagement.
Content must evolve from prescriptive to interactive
One company that has adapted to these pressures is YouTube’s cooking channel – SORTED. In contrast with many content brands, the channel has cultivated a uniquely reciprocal relationship with its audiences. It has been a key factor behind SORTED’s growth of a strong community not just of keen cooks, but now increasingly, travellers too.
Founded 10 years ago between four school friends, SORTED began as an instructional cooking video series teaching university students how to eat well on a budget. As the business grew up along with its audience, its content has evolved in format from instructional videos and experimental cooking challenges to travel content, taking it upon itself to create a link between food and travel.
SORTED has accrued a subscriber base of over two million on YouTube alone, with over 350,000 people (aged 25-35) voluntarily watching over seven minutes of their content daily.
Beyond just YouTube, the brand has a presence on all social media channels, hosts and runs supper clubs, produces cookbooks, podcasts and tries to position itself at the centre of a global conversation around food.
Co-founder and chef, Ben Ebbrell describes SORTED’s niche as “a group of true friends exploring incredible food at the hands of the audience. The local audience lead, shape and inform the content, making it vastly better than anything than one or two researchers can acquire.”
“We quickly realised that we don’t have all the answers and far richer and more valuable content can be created by working and learning from this huge audience all over the world who were engaging with us at unprecedented levels,” said Ebbrell.
It has shifted the power dynamic between the brand and its audience, in that the lads on screen are almost putty in the hands of their audiences, but with the added flair of conversational banter forged through 20 years of friendship.
It strips away the assumption that those on screen represent authority figures on any given topic, instead allowing the viewers to shape what they deem to be an authentic representation of a given thing – be it a dish or a destination.
By connecting with their audiences in this way, SORTED is in a very strong position to generate interest and conversation around certain brands, products and services.
From learning how to cook to destination marketing
Ebbrell also explained many brands must make the mental leap from food to travel, and how collaborating with SORTED could benefit travel brands, particularly those in destination marketing.
“In a nutshell, [we] don’t sell a product, [we] instead create a resonance with an audience that inspires and builds an interest.”
“The best content we produce online is done when we can partner with a forward-thinking brand that can assist with unlocking great adventures or challenges to discover awesome food through travel,” said Ebbrell.
“What better way to be inspired by food than to travel and visit the places and meet the people behind it? Food and travel work so beautifully together and one unlocks the other.”
So far, SORTED has experimented with destination marketing-like campaigns in its London base as well as parts of the USA, with positive results.
For example, it worked in collaboration with the American tourism board – BrandUSA, to create a series titled ‘Game Changers’. It won multiple awards including Gold in the Destination Marketing – Promotional Video category. The series was renewed for a second season this summer.
Another example was a collaboration with ticketing platform TodayTix, which offered buyers a pre-theatre meal and discounted tickets to a London West End show of their choice. After publishing an episode on SORTED’s own experience, 80% of viewers that went on to purchase the voucher, used it to see the same show as the SORTED team.
Getting experimental on-screen
Constantly taking on audience suggestions has meant that SORTED’s creative formula is highly experimental. Ideas that work, stick and those that flop are very quick to be archived away, or simply binned.
It once conducted a 24 Hour Food Marathon, wherein the team had to consume 26.2 dishes (the equivalent number of miles in a marathon), each from a different venue around London, to showcase what the city had to offer.
Perhaps the most interesting was its ‘Lost and Hungry’ series, which saw the four friends tour the USA for 10 weeks, under a strict rule whereby they were only allowed to visit and eat things that were recommended to them on their social media channels.
The experiment required audience engagement to work, and it allowed for unpredictable but entertaining results. The content stayed fresh and novel, and audience members felt they had a direct hand in its creation.
The final product recreates the experience that virtually every foodie traveller is familiar with – juggling the priorities of: the active pursuit of an unforgettable meal, avoiding tourist haunts and the obscene queues they come with, and gaining insider knowledge on hidden gems revealed to you by the local community.
Those watching could feel empathy for the experience, as well as a longing to recreate it for themselves. It beckons audiences to steer away from the TripAdvisor lists of ‘top 10’ restaurants and dares them to explore beyond the safety of five-star reviews, forcing them to make their own independent judgments, a concept that is not necessarily popular with everyone yet.
“Anybody can Google what’s good in a place… the issue is you end up the same top 10 results that every other visitor gets. SORTED works hard with our global community to showcase the hidden gems; the places that only the locals know about. It’s these that newer and younger audiences are interested in,” argued Ebbrell.
Bringing its experimentation to Asia
Its next step is to dip its toe in Asia, which is undeniably far more foreign territory for the SORTED gang. But with the recent fervour and championing of Asian diversity, following the release of the movie Crazy Rich Asians, there is no greater time to showcase the region to its primarily North American and European audience, who are perhaps more curious about the region than ever. (In fact, Brand Expedia sites in the US and Asia saw marked increases in search volume for travel to Singapore and Malaysia following the movie’s release).
Fortunately, despite a predominantly Western audience demographic, SORTED has also built traction and popularity in Asia, which will encourage their foray abroad.
“The real key is the fact that we have such a vocal and engaged audience across South-east Asia already, with the likes of Singapore representing a huge demographic for SORTED. This community can help to shape it and make it some of the best we’ve ever done.”
The trick is how to present Asian cities in a novel format, unique to SORTED’s brand. For this, Ebbrell has envisioned replicating those past experiments that were not only entertaining to watch but equally fun for the team to produce.
Growing with your audience and challenging the limits of industry
SORTED’s growth as a company is a clear example of the opportunity that can be found once a brand begins to challenge the limits of its own industry. In a way, SORTED has stepped through the proverbial Looking Glass to explore how it can evolve from its original product offering to become something much greater than what it originally set out to be.
Creators are coming under increasing pressure to become more responsive to their audience demands, striking the middle ground between staying true to their brand identity yet being malleable to the evolving and multi-dimensional tastes of their key consumers. It is critical for any brand that wishes to stay relevant beyond an occasionally viral video.
By engaging with its key customers and taking the lead and responding directly to their demands, SORTED is fostering a loyal community that has followed the four likeable lads on-screen throughout each phase of its development as a business.
