In 2009 Rasmus Albrechtsen started providing males’s hairstyling tutorials on YouTube. He referred to as his channel “Slikhaar TV,” as in “slick hair.” The channel scaled to over 2 million subscribers.
Then got here YouTube’s synthetic intelligence-driven browse function, displaying viewers the movies that seemingly curiosity them. Out of the blue, Albrechtsen’s 2 million subscribers appeared much less impactful. He’s now producing movies “for the browse function greater than for the subscribers.”
Albrecthsen relies in Denmark, the place I’m vacationing. He and I not too long ago mentioned Slikhaar TV, By Vilain (his line of hair merchandise), and the affect of AI on video advertising and marketing.
The complete audio of our dialog is embedded under. The transcript is edited for readability and size.
Eric Bandholz: What do you do?
Rasmus Vilain Albrechtsen: I co-founded two companies with my twin brother, Emil. We’ve Slikhaar TV, which is a YouTube channel with over 2 million subscribers providing males’s hairstyling tutorials and recommendation. We launched it in 2009.
Then we’ve got By Vilain, the place we develop and promote hair merchandise for males, similar to waxes, pre-stylers, shampoos, and equipment.
Having a brother as a enterprise accomplice is sweet, though it has challenges. We’re similar twins, however we’ve got completely different personalities. I’m extra into the artistic, imaginative and prescient area. Emil is extra into executing and operations. He’s additionally our CEO. We complement one another fairly nicely.
Bandholz: Natural YouTube views might be arduous to come back by.
Albrechtsen: It has been turbulent on YouTube. We will thank the browse function for the turbulence. It’s getting smarter, utilizing synthetic intelligence to assist viewers uncover their distinctive pursuits.
We’ve 2 million subscribers, however we don’t have 2 million viewers. We’ve 2 million individuals who, as soon as in 14 years, selected to push the subscribe button. Their lives could also be completely different now.
So we’re making an attempt to provide movies round tendencies for the browse function greater than for the subscribers.
Bandholz: Just like the TikTok mannequin, proper? The variety of subscribers doesn’t have an effect on how a video performs.
Albrechtsen: Sure. TikTok is excessive in some methods as a result of viewers will neglect you tomorrow in case you’re not feeding into the tendencies. In case you personalize content material and construct your self as somebody that people need to get extra of, they may keep in mind you and return to your channel since you moved them indirectly.
To face out, it’s mainly a brainwashing course of. You entertain them, however they don’t keep in mind you. To be memorable, you retain at it.
I had an expertise in my health heart. A man approached me and mentioned, “Are you that dude that all the time pops up in my feed?” It’s tremendous fascinating when people discover you since you should have left an imprint indirectly.
So the problem is producing memorable content material so viewers can discover you. Of us could browse 100 movies an hour, 10 to twenty seconds every. In case your content material makes an imprint, you need to use it in an advert afterward.
Then, in the event that they watched your content material a few occasions within the browse function, they may reply to a business together with your product. They don’t know the place they noticed it, however they understand it’s tied to good content material, in order that they belief it extra.
Bandholz: Have you ever finished endorsement offers with celebrities?
Albrechtsen: We’ve just a few endorsements. But when the query is, “Have we paid for endorsements?” the reply just isn’t immediately. They occur by way of casual networks — some soccer (soccer) gamers, just a few celebrities — nevertheless it’s not on formal contracts. It’s normally of us who use our merchandise. So it’s not a typical endorsement the place you pay Cristiano Ronaldo a few million {dollars}, and he’ll point out you, and you need to use his title within the advertising and marketing of the product.
A star endorsement might be technique, however we’re not pursuing it due to the value level. We’d most likely pay round 80,000 U.S. {dollars} for a 12 months’s contract with a high-end movie star.
I’d fairly keep on with guys who persistently create knowledgeable content material inside a selected area of interest and supply worth in a selected space — not simply entertaining by displaying luxurious life.
Bandholz: The place can readers observe you?
Albrechtsen: Try our YouTube channel, @Slikhaar TV, or see us on Fb, Instagram, and TikTok. Our hair care merchandise are at ByVilain.com.