Would you rather be under lockdown at home under government orders right now – or under lockdown in a house with some of the UK’s biggest TikTok influencers?
Luckily for you, you don’t have to make this choice. But thanks to new online show Bytehouse, you can voyeuristically watch six of the most popular TikTok stars in Britain cohabiting in a Big Brother-style program that launched today (April 3).
The company behind Bytehouse is successful London-based ‘Gen Z’ agency Fanbytes, which is well known to global record labels for its ‘influencer networks’ on platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok.
Fanbytes has previously helped entities like the UK Government, McDonalds, Burger King and Nike – plus an array of record companies and digital services – reach younger audiences on social media.
Bytehouse has been launched by Fanbytes subsidiary BytesizedTalent, and is set to run for three whole months.
Inhabiting the Central London house (in an undisclosed location) are TikTok stars Shauni (19, pictured) SurfaceLdn (22), Seb (20) Monty (17) KT Franklin (19) and Lily Rose (20).
Members of this ‘Bytesquad’ will be set challenges by brand partners, as well as filming prank videos and creating daily content as a collective. Dependent on UK government advice, Fanbytes is hoping to introduce new influencers to the show every couple of weeks in the future.
Speaking of government advice, we know what you’re thinking: shouldn’t all those young people be… well, not in a Big Brother-style house together right now?
It’s a bit more complicated than that. According to Fanbytes, the influencers actually “moved in prior to the nationwide lockdown”.
Which means, yup, they’re going nowhere… for 12 long weeks.
“The Bytesquad are some of the most entertaining and talented people there are and I’m extremely excited to see what we can cook up.”
Timothy Armoo, Fanbytes
BytesizedTalent claims to be the largest dedicated talent agency for TikTok, managing over 40 influencers who share more than 55m fans between them.
These influencers, in turn, help Bytesized Talent’s partners to promote their own wares and to build their brands.
Just the six influencers in Bytehouse represent a total online following of over 14m, says Fanbytes, with total views per week of more than 73m.
Apparently, the music business wants in on the action.
According to Fanbytes, “several” record labels are set to use the house to drive engagement around their songs.
They won’t be alone: other brands backing the venture include games company What Do You Meme? which is sponsoring a regular games night in the house, and Rise Above, an “an organisation which uses behaviour change to delay and prevent risky behaviours from young people and give them the best start in life”.
Fanbytes is confident that Bytehouse – which follows in the footsteps of runaway success The Hype House in the United States – will become a must-watch series for Gen Z during Coronavirus lockdown.
Fanbytes said in a statement: “When people think about TikTok, they instantly think about dance routines and skits. But the TikTok community is more than that – it’s the new generation of creators. With ByteHouse, we are helping to develop the next generation of content.”
Viewers are able to watch what is going on in the house in two ways: through the socials of each participating influencer and via the official Bytehouse channels on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
“In a world where younger audiences are moving away from linear TV and moving online, more specifically moving to social, it’s ever-more important for programming to be created by Gen Z for Gen Z.”
Timothy Armoo, Fanbytes
Timothy Armoo, CEO of Fanbytes, said: “Since the beginning, we had always seen ourselves as being leaders in Gen Z marketing. This expands from helping brands to win the hearts of Gen Z audience, to owning and operating the most engaging programming on social, to merchandising.
“The Bytesquad are some of the most entertaining and talented people there are and I’m extremely excited to see what we can cook up.”
He added: “In a world where younger audiences are moving away from linear TV and moving online, more specifically moving to social, it’s ever-more important for programming to be created by Gen Z for Gen Z.
“Our role in this is very simply to just be the curator and let the experts do their thing.”Music Business Worldwide
