Youtube is very tough nut to crack, unlike Instagram and Twitter that require constant but easy to compile content, Youtube combines a number of high technicality skills into creating a seamless video product that needs to look and sound organic to gain and grow an audience. But the payoffs from Youtube are worth it for the brands that manage to overcome the original slump that drives many creators away from the platform and find a legitimate fanbase. It seems Mercy Johnson is about to become the next celebrity to become an underground superstar on Youtube.
Granted Mercy is already a mega-superstar, with nearly 7 million followers on Instagram, and a near pristine image in an industry where almost everyone has skeletons in their closets. Mercy was one of the few Nollywood actresses to successful transition into marriage without seriously denting her career as an actress and has even dabbled into politics. So her decision to take on Youtube through her new cooking show, ‘Kitchen Talk’ seems very much in line with her new branding as a wholesome wife and mother.
With nearly 200,000 views, this is the most watched video on the MJOTV, Mercy Johnson Okojie’s personal Youtube channel. This along with a number of other videos tide Mercy into the elusive 1 million views club, an achievement considering Mercy only posts one video a week, and doesn’t aggressively promote the channel through black hat advertising (a common trope with other influencers and entertainment industry folk trying to transition into influencing). Mercy’s cooking show, Mercy’s kitchen talk is an off-shoot of her influencing deal with Mr. Chef, a food and beverage company that does some very overt call-to-action advertising on the channel’s videos.
It might be too soon to call, Mercy has only done a few months and 14 videos on the platform, and the show itself can be quite mechanical and Mercy forceful, (there have been rumours of feuds with other Nollywood actresses swirling around) she is definitely one to watch in the media space in the coming months.
Edwin Okolo is an author and journalist who has worked with YNaija, TheNativemag and the Naked Convos.
Leave a reply