Quibi has courted influencers for its shows but insiders say it ruffled feathers by dismissing ‘YouTuber ideas’ in favor of familiar TV formats

• Influencers have been part of Quibi’s content strategy since it launched, but some people in the influencer business say Quibi has work to do in building relationships with digital creators and making the best use of their talents.
• Quibi is interested in influencer-driven concepts with high production values or creative that doesn’t otherwise fit in with the creators’ existing channels, according to people who have pitched or worked with the company.
• But that approach has ruffled some feathers in the influencer industry, sources said.
• “It was super frustrating because we thought that we had a few good ideas and they were automatically shut down because they were quote unquote ‘YouTuber ideas,’ which I thought was very strange,” said a YouTube manager, whose client who has millions of YouTube followers pitched Quibi.
• Industry experts also said Quibi dropped the ball by not leveraging influencers more in its marketing.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Earlier this month, New Yorker staff writer Emily Nussbaum raised on Twitter a question that was on the minds of many people in the media and tech industries: ‘How would you fix Quibi,’ a mobile-video subscription service that launched in April to lukewarm audience adoption.

Among many crowdsourced suggestions was Ludlow Ventures partner Blake Robbins’ recommendation that Quibi invest in digital creators like David Dobrik and Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast) — who bring in millions of views on platforms like YouTube and TikTok — and give them the freedom to “create magic” for the platform.

—Blake Robbins (@blakeir) June 15, 2020

Robbins wasn’t the only one in the thread to recommend Quibi move away from traditional celebrities and invest in “fresh stories” or innovative content.

Quibi, which costs $5 per month after a free trial, leaned heavily on celebrities like Idris Elba, Chrissy Teigen, Liam Hemsworth, Anna Kendrick, and Chance the Rapper in its launch programming.

“The reason why we went with stars, and celebrities, and known talent is because it’s brand new, and we needed to clearly define for the consumer, for people that would subscribe to this, why is it different?” Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg said at SeriesFest on June 18. “We needed to clearly define for the consumer, for people that would subscribe to this, why is it different? What differentiates it from what you would see on TikTok? … not because there’s anything wrong with TikTok, or Instagram, but ours is a subscription service, and we’re asking you to pay.”

Some of that “known talent” included influencers like Shan Boodram and Rachel Hollis, whose programming Quibi saw as a way to help turn its service into a daily habit, The New York Times’ Nicole Sperling previously reported.

The company’s first wave of the roughly 75 shows that are out now include digital creators — people like Liza Koshy, Tony Greenhand, and even the satirical Kirby Jenner — who kickstarted their careers on platforms like YouTube and Instagram. Addison Rae, who has a massive following on TikTok, also appeared in one episode of “Punk’d.” And the platform has a show in the works with the gamer organization, FaZe Clan.

But in trying to distinguish itself from the content on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, Quibi often put these influencers in familiar TV formats — like Liza Koshy’s series “Floored,” a dance competition series that also puts the contestants through obstacles in the style of the network series like “Wipeout,” or Rachel Hollis’ talk show.

And influencer industry insiders told Business Insider that Quibi rejected ideas that it felt were too close to what would appear on the creators’ own social-media channels.

“If it can be on YouTube, it can’t be on Quibi,” Katzenberg is known to say, sources close to the company said.

Quibi has pursued digital creators, but ruffled a few feathers in the process

One YouTube manager said a client who has millions of YouTube followers pitched Quibi ahead of its launch and the company passed on the ideas.

“It was super frustrating because we thought that we had a few good ideas and they were automatically shut down because they were quote unquote ‘YouTuber ideas,’ which I thought was very strange,” said the YouTube talent manager, who asked not to be named to protect future deal prospects.

Three people who work with influencers told Business Insider they pitched shows to Quibi ahead of its launch, and were turned down because they were told the programming was too similar to videos on YouTube or Instagram. One other person said they never heard back from Quibi after a pitch meeting.

Quibi said in a statement to Business Insider that it appreciates the fun, creative content approaches social-media platforms have taken, but that the company is focusing on content viewers can’t find anywhere else.

Another source who pitched Quibi was told in May through a production partner that the concepts that had been discussed with Quibi would only be considered for a pilot if the source could prove their client’s “loyal fanbase will follow him over to the Quibi platform,” the source said. 

It’s not unusual for brands or sponsors to ask talent for conversion metrics before signing a deal, multiple industry sources said. It’s a less-common ask in development talks, the people said, though it’s coming up more often as platforms and studios look to less traditional stars.

The source decided not to move forward with the concepts at Quibi after that point. 

“It’s hard enough for influencers to be respected in the first place,” the source said. “We’re not going to put them on a platform where they’re going to be disrespected.”

Nonetheless, two of the people Business Insider spoke with said they would be interested in working with Quibi in the future, because it’s an interesting middle ground for digital talent who want to cross over into bigger productions.

Industry experts also say Quibi dropped the ball by not leveraging influencers in its marketing

Quibi also hasn’t utilized influencers in its marketing as much as other streaming-video services have.

Stars of Quibi shows, like Teigen and Joe Jonas, have posted about their series to their massive followings. But we have not yet seen a large-scale push by Quibi to get digital creators to hype its service.

Quibi would’ve had to cut deals with influencers, even the talent in its shows, to get them talking about the platform on social media, industry experts said. 

“They worked with all those big stars but didn’t they make it so those stars were as bought in as they were,” said Ricky Ray Butler, the CEO of entertainment-marketing agency BEN Group. “I don’t know how those deals worked, but we do know that the traction was not what they were hoping for and not what they were expecting.”

If Quibi is looking for influencers who can convert their followings to Quibi subscribers, marketing deals could help test which influencer’s audiences align with Quibi’s, Butler said. Companies, including BEN Group, track how influencer-marketing posts convert audiences. 

A blueprint for this already exists. When Netflix was still establishing itself in streaming and trying to drive sign-ups, it partnered with YouTubers like Hannah Hart to promote its subscription service.

Netflix gave Hart and other YouTubers promotional links that offered one month of Netflix for free to new users. Hart, for example, promoted her link with movie nights, where she would watch a title on Netflix along with her followers. The influencers, and Revision3, the company that implemented the program, were paid a fee when someone used the link to sign up for Netflix.

The program ran from around 2007 to 2013, and ended when Netflix started to focus more on marketing its blossoming original content.

“Netflix had a really strong influencer program,” Butler said. “It shows an understanding of how things work today … Massive media spends on all the different platforms should be leveraged but it shouldn’t be the only thing that they’re doing.”