In this episode, I explore the rise, the fall, and the impact of one of the first content collectives— the Brit Crew. One of the earliest YouTuber friend groups, Zoella, Alfie, Joe, Jim, Tanya, Louise, Marcus, Niomi, and Caspar set the stage for the future of online content creation. Their frequent collaborations and ventures into publishing and lifestyle brands marked some of the first successful crossovers into mainstream fame. The collective also shifted the direction of vlogging, moving away from skits and focusing more on their daily lives and friendships. This change not only popularised more authentic, relatable content but also laid the groundwork for content houses and other creator collectives that followed. 

Thank you to the Centennial World editorial team, Annabel Bendavid and Danni Fenech, for putting this episode together while I was on leave!

Timestamps:

5:18 Who was the Brit Crew? Core members & their collaborators

12:31 GleamFutures — talent agency that repped all the Brit Crew members

13:14 Why was the Brit Crew so popular?

13:20 Frequent collaborations

15:00 Family-friendly and brand-safe content

15:56 Relatability

17:10 Some of the most iconic moments from the Brit Crew

17:30 Accidental leak of Zoe & Alfie’s relationship by Jim

18:15 The YouTube Boy Band

18:50 Zoella Beauty

19:35 Published books

20:00 Zoe’s Girl Online controversy

21:20 The demise of the Brit Crew

22:03 Lost sense of relatability and authenticity

22:47 HelloWorld! scandal

24:17 Zoella’s advent calendar scandal

25:08 Zoe & Louise’s “falling out”

26:05 Alfie’s £1 challenge scandal

27:08 Audiences aged out of the Brit Crew

28:40 The digital landscape shifted — wholesome content was no longer popular

29:34 Where are they today?

32:05 The Brit Crew’s impact

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Sources:

https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/culture/whatever-happened-to-the-brit-crew-youtube-alfie-deyes-zoella-vloggers-8886/ 

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a12227772/zoellas-career-timeline/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx6fwery65M 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtgswZqAu1I 

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/20/youtube-sensation-caspar-lee-quit-become-serial-entrepreneur.html 

https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2024/01/25/gleam-futures-shaped-the-social-talent-wave-then-succumbed-it 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA91BaJWYQw 

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a21590132/alfie-deyes-lived-off-one-pound-video-reactions/ 

https://thetab.com/uk/2023/09/21/zoella-alfie-deyes-wedding-dating-timeline-330277

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/21/youtube-boy-band-sport-relief

https://www.fleurdeforce.com/2014/09/zoella-beauty-launch-first-impressions.html

https://parcelmaster.com/case-studies/sourced-box/

https://www.mvemanagement.com/

https://thefifthagency.com/trends/the-brit-crew-where-are-the-original-youtube-trendsetters-now/

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/zoella-publishers-admit-zoe-sugg-didn-t-actually-write-the-fastestselling-debut-novel-ever-girl-online-on-her-own-9908926.html

https://closeronline.co.uk/celebrity/news/jim-and-tanya-pregnant/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12262711/Where-Brit-crew-Zoella-Alfie-Marcus-Butler.html 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/41806501 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZCUFvVQyLo