Food creators still growing YouTube performance in the GCC.

This article is the second in our series on social performance. It leads on from our last article,YouTube losing the viewership battle in the GCC. In that article, we looked at the clear effect that new platforms and platform formats had on YouTube.ith little innovation in the GCC, a steady decline in viewership since Jan this year began; in fact, views dropped by almost 50% between Jan and Jul 21’. We wanted to look into one of the most trending topics on Youtube and study the effect this decline has had on food creators specifically. D/A segmented that same Sila data by type of creator and analysed ‘food creators’ and their audiences in direct comparison to overall platform performance, discovering a surprising buck to the overall trend. While YouTube's overall performance declined in the first half of 2021, frood creators' Youtube performance spiked considerably. There was no correlating video creation increase during this time, causing the notable performance spike, so we looked to another platform to identify if a trend was present. We can see a performance spike on Instagram food creators in the GCC almost as Youtube ( a slight lag is present). Ramadan would be a natural assumption to the apparently seasonal-looking spike during a long decline period for Youtube. Interestingly, the content did not increase as you would expect over a seasonal occasion; it was a moderate increase in content but a rapid increase in performance or engagement.

Are seasonal events enough to keep older platforms relevant?

Although there is a higher tail in performance off the back of the spike, time will tell if the decline in creators and performance will maintain a presence on Youtube or follow the overall trend of migrating to newer platforms and formats of other categories. We will keep an eye on our food creators and their audiences to report on behavioural and consumption changes that impact FMCG marketers. For specific inquiries on Arab world audiences, please send an email to info@d-a.co and we will contact you directly. Or visit ‘our thinking’ page on d-a.cofor more insights.