Asia-Pacific digital media startup TotallyAwesome has joined forces with kid-safe social media platform PopJam and talent agency StarFish Kids to launch TotallyAwesome Squad, an incubator program for aspiring YouTubers in Australia.
Working with Australia’s StarFish Kids, TotallyAwesome will handpick emerging influencers for the Squad and empower them to share their content for a global under-13 social community on SuperAwesome-owned platform PopJam. To date, PopJam boasts more than 30% monthly growth, 140-plus influencers and entertainment channels, two million young creations and 13 million total engagements, making it one of the fastest growing digital kids platforms in Oz. Once on PopJam, TotallyAwesome Squad creators will host a variety of short-form featured videos, challenges, reviews and trending topics.
Following Australian distribution through PopJam, TotallyAwesome plans to expand Squad content to additional South-East Asian countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The influencer program comes as more than half of Australian kids ages six to 14 are watching online videos in their spare time, with YouTube being their top platform, according to TotallyAwesome’s 2018 Kids’ Digital Insights report. The study also found that more than half of kids have asked parents for a product because a YouTube, Instagram or Facebook influencer had it or used it.
Leveraging the power of influencers continues to be a top priority for many major players in the kids space, including the House of Mouse with its Disney Digital Network, Mattel with its successful Tongal relationship and Nickelodeon, which most recently launched an influencer-driven prank campaign.
