Emma Chamberlain: Creating Brand Value
Emma Chamberlain is a 21-year-old, overnight YouTube sensation who has evolved into a widely praised, accessible "it girl" and idol of modern pop culture. She initially cultivated popularity in 2017 with a teen girl audience who admired how relatable she is. However, her career has evolved into an unrelatable reality of moving into a $4.3 million house with a tour on Architectural Digest, a long-term partnership with Louis Vuitton, and an estimated net worth of around $90 million (StatSocial, 2020). She maintains her audience of young girls and her character of a down-to-earth girl next door. One can visit her YouTube channel and see that throughout the evolution of her career, her personality and core values continue to shine through (StatSocial, 2020). As she cultivated more subscribers, the scope of her influence over different areas of pop culture widened. Emma Chamberlain's 2018 "the truth about Coachella (everyone else is lying to you)" YouTube video explicitly demonstrates the success of her brand as a "relatable teen," where in reality, the video further highlights that her popularity and fame stems from Adorno and Horkiner's concepts of commodity fetish and false needs and Powers' analysis of cool hunting.
This Coachella video shows an authentic experience that separates her from other creators who do not show at Coachella. Chamberlain, along with similar creators commonly known as the "Dote Girls," was taken to the festival through the company Dote (Facebook.com/forcreatorscom, 2021). The company provided an unbelievable AirBnB, transportation, photographers, meals, and everything and anything that one would need when going to a festival, which Chamberlain comically shows off in disbelief. She decides to document this trip to show the "truth" of Coachella.
She makes the audience feel like they are there with her as if they were her friends. This accessibility is what drives her influence (Bromwich, 2019). Her similarity and connection to the audience subconsciously drive the belief that by mimicking her behavior, such as wearing the same clothes, the viewer will be able to, in essence, become her. That is why her inclusion of OOTDs (Outfit of the Day) is crucial because of the publicity it provides for that store. If she wears something and posts it, thousands of viewers immediately go to that particular website to buy that article of clothing for the sole reason that Emma Chamberlain wore it.
Her clothing is a perfect example of the concept of cool hunting and how it is an unignorable presence in Chamberlain's brand. Devon Powers, a modern professor of Communications and Media, analyzed the job of "cool hunters" in pop culture, which encapsulates an explanation of the scope of influencers, such as Emma Chamberlain, on the value an item serves to society (Powers, 2019). As an influencer, Emma Chamberlain does not decide and predict what is excellent; instead, she is given what larger corporations and brands view as cool and sells to the public.
Earlier in her career, she had many brand sponsorships, such as Dote, where she relayed the message they were feeding her. She now has more autonomy over brand deals and agency over what she decides to promote (StatSocial, 2020). Her coffee company, Chamberlain Coffee, permits her to influence her fanbase independently. Dote sponsors the Coachella trip, which may lead to a feeling of inauthenticity (Powers, 2019). Nevertheless, the connection to this celebrity drives the exchange value to new heights.
Theorists of the German Frankfurt School, Adorno and Horkheimer, introduce the concepts of commodity fetish and false needs. Commodity fetish states that, in a capitalist society, consumers will always value something, specifically in monetary value, more than it is worth in practicality (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1944). Consumers will, therefore, always put exchange value over use value. Commodity fetish drives false needs. This is the belief that consumers in capitalist society will focus on items with high exchange value instead of high-use value items. This distracts the consumer from the more significant questions regarding class and society (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1944). Commodity fetish and false needs are ever present in Emma Chamberlain's fandom as there are large groups of people who, when they see her wear something, need to have it to become like her or her friend.
This video's style is chaotic, providing a sense of genuine content that initiates and promotes her fame (Bromwich, 2019). The video ends with clips of her at her childhood home, wearing no makeup, in sweatpants, and speaking honestly to the audience. The editing style is extremely casual, adding funny sound effects, freezing, zooming-in, and adding text and clips of her editing the video provides the audience with an interpersonal connection that drives her popularity and brand (Bromwich, 2019). Chamberlain was taken with an expensive brand, yet the video is not sophisticated and instead displays a character of a goofy, sometimes immature teenager. This endears her audience to her. Additionally, as the days go on at the festival, she continues to show a genuine version of how Coachella was for her, representing her exhaustion and daily frustrations.
Additionally, in her debrief of Coachella at the end of her video, she touches on the fact that Coachella as a music festival is mainly as popular because the cost is fetishized (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1944). She, therefore, relates more to the audience because even though she went and participated in this overpriced festival, she can recognize all of the drawbacks. Chamberlain recognizes that, by posting a false reality on Instagram and pretending the festival is fun, she furthers her audience's commodity fetish of the festival. Her self-awareness and genuineness cannot be separated from the fact that she continues to participate and benefit from the concepts of excellent hunting, commodity fetish, and false needs. Her ending of the video with a comment about how she will probably return to Coachella because "it's kinda worth it though" (Chamberlain, 2018) shows her recognition of the benefits to her brand from her participation.
References
Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. (1944). Dialectic of Enlightenment. pp. 1-12
Bennett, S. (2022, March 22). Emma Chamberlain Net Worth 2022 (Forbes) – assets Spotify YouTube. CAknowledge. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://caknowledge.com/emma-chamberlain-net-worth-forbes/
Bromwich, J. E. (2019, July 9). The Evolution of Emma Chamberlain. The New York Times. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/style/emma-chamberlain-youtube.html
Facebook.com/forcreatorscom. (2021, August 10). Emma Chamberlain: How Did She Become So Popular? ForCreators.com. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://forcreators.com/emma-chamberlain/
Powers, D. (2019). On trend: The business of forecasting the future.Chapter 3Links to an external site.. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press. (Annenberg Reserve HF 5415.32 P695 2019)
StatSocial. (2020, January 25). YouTube Sensation, Emma Chamberlain — Audience Deep Dive. Medium. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://medium.com/statsocial- insights/youtube-sensation-emma-chamberlain-audience-deep-dive-80d9aed56194
YouTube. (2018). The truth about coachella (everyone else is lying to you). YouTube. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqMV2whnNjg.
Alex, I really enjoyed reading your piece on Emma Chamberlain, her “relatable teen” persona, and “the truth about Coachella (everyone else is lying to you)” YouTube video’s connection to commodity fetishism and cool hunting. I remember watching this video many years ago, so it was interesting to revisit it with a new understanding of various popular culture theories. I really loved how you discussed the style of her videos and the various components of this video such as OOTDs. I particularly liked the connection you made between Coachella and Adorno and Horkheimer’s term commodity fetishism. When posting various pictures and videos from the cost fetishized festival, Chamberlain creates a false reality of the festival and thus furthers her audience’s commodity fetish of the festival. So, even though Chamberlain criticizes the overpriced festival, she continues to participate in and benefit from it. I found this idea super engaging!
ReplyDeleteIn your piece, you write about how in this video, Chamberlain connects to her audience and makes herself accessible so that the audience can feel like they are her friends. I noticed a connection between the accessibility and relatability portrayed in her video and Crystal Abidin’s (2015) piece “Communicative <3 intimacies: Influencers and perceived interconnectedness.” Abidin (2015) discusses how influencers manage intimacy to create a sense of familiarity so that their followers feel close to them. She writes, “It is possible for intimacies between influencers and followers to be motivated by commerce or elaborately curated as long as followers (who may or may not be critically aware of these) feel familiar, close, and emotionally attached to influencers.” In this video, Chamberlain curates intimacy through showing the behind the scenes of Coachella, authentically debriefing on the event, and editing the video in a chaotic and casual manner. As a result, her viewers feel deeply connected to Chamberlain even though they have never actually met her. Overall, I loved reading your insights on Emma Chamberlain’s Coachella video. Amazing job!
--Sophie Barkan
I appreciate your analysis of Emma Chamberlain and her ability to create a “relatable” brand value. Through the example of her 2018 “the truth about Coachella (everyone else is lying to you)” video, you clearly explain how she uses YouTube to make the viewers feel like she is accessible to them. In doing so, Chamberlain gains the trust, admiration, and loyalty of her viewers, which in turn allows her to guide them to a series of brands who sponsor her. For instance, in the Coachella video Chamberlain is sponsored by Dote, who provided, as you write: “unbelievable AirBnB, transportation, photographers, meals, and everything and anything that one would need when going to a festival.” Even though the trip was sponsored by Dote, Chamberlain keeps her audience tied to her by creating very “real” videos.
ReplyDeleteYour discussion of Chamberlain reminded me of Crystal Abidin’s (2015) article “Communicative ❤ Intimacies: Influencers and Perceived Interconnectedness” because both you and Abidin reflect on how everyday internet users, like Emma Chamberlain, accumulate large followings, then use platforms such as YouTube to influence their audience in a variety of ways. One of the main reasons influencers can do this is because they create a “‘perceived interconnectedness,” (Abidin, 2015, p. 7) in which influencers interact with followers to give the “impression of intimacy” (Abidin, 2015, p. 1). The viewers think that they are close to the influencer because of the way the influencer presents themself. Unlike traditional celebrities, influencers share their lived experiences, which seem unvarnished and personal. Chamberlain has mastered this skill. She comes onto the screen without any make-up and her skin is often blemished with acne. She is casual in her dress, wearing garments such as sweatpants. All of this adds up to a feeling of intimacy, between the viewer and Chamberlain. She makes the viewer feel like they are friends, even though in reality this is a one-sided relationship.
Overall, I loved reading your analysis on Chamberlain, a YouTuber that I have watched for years. I am definitely a culprit of feeling like one of Chamberlain’s “friends,” so looking deeper into her “relatable” way of vlogging was very interesting.
Lauren Pantzer
Hi Alex, This is a really great post about Emma Chamberlain! I think your points about Emma’s content and editing style also connect really well to Crystal Abidin’s article “Communicative Intimacies: Perceived Interconnectedness.” Abidin’s article emphasizes that intimacy can be “elaborately curated as long as followers feel familiar, close and emotionally attached to influencers.” Many of Emma’s techniques that you discuss– her shaky camera skills, clips of herself editing and iMovie sound effects and music– are stylistic choices that any of Emma’s teenage followers with access to a Mac computer could make, resulting in them perceiving her as one of them. I was a big Emma fan when I was younger, and I also remember her frequently leaning in towards her camera to give a “forehead kiss,” another phenomena that helped contribute to the connection I felt to her at the time.
ReplyDeleteAibdin also emphasized that many influencers curate this perceived sense of interconnectedness because they are “motivated by commerce.” This is prevalent throughout Emma’s career. Since the early days of her Youtube channel, she has made her coffee obsession a big part of her content; she frequently records herself making coffee and has done many variations of a coffee taste test video. In high school, I remember many of my peers stating that Emma was the reason they started drinking coffee, and she eventually chose to profit off this influence that she had on her followers through Chamberlain Coffee. In 2020, she founded the company and began selling upscale, expensive coffee to the same fans that she influenced to start drinking it in the first place. Her decision to start the company reveals that her perceived authenticity and realness with her fans is, like Abidin described, a phenomenon that she is not afraid to profit off of.
– Katie Bartlett
Dear Alex Sinins,
ReplyDeleteI found this blog post about Emma Chamberlain to be very interesting and insightful, especially for someone like myself who isn’t too familiar with this individual. I appreciated the fact that you provided readers with important background information to provide context as to who she is while also making important connections to the concepts we learned in class.
When reading your analysis of Chamberlain, it happened to remind me of Crystal Abidin’s article, “Communicative <3 Intimacies: Influencers and Perceived Interconnectedness.” In this article, Abidin discusses the idea of “perceived interconnectedness” and how influencers are able to control their interactions with followers by creating an “illusion of intimacy with their audience through conversational small talk” (Abidin, 2015). Essentially, the viewers come to this belief that they have some form of intimacy with the influencer because of the way the influencer portrays themselves. In your blog post, you mention how in Chamberlain’s 2018 “the truth about Coachella (everyone else is lying to you)” video, that Chamberlains is able to connect with her audience by creating a sense of familiarity so that her followers feel connected to her and in order to make viewers feel like she is actually accessible to them. What differentiates Chamberlain from other celebrities is that she shows elements of authenticity when showing her viewers the behind the scenes of the Coachella event. In doing so, Chamberlain is able to create this “illusion of intimacy” by speaking casually and just being relatable so that her viewers feel more connected to her despite this being a one-sided relationship.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading your analysis of Emma Chamberlain and I want to thank you for bringing this individual to my attention.
You did a great job!
From,
Michel Jung