Direct-to-consumer online video channel Pulped launched in September, tailored for a Gen Z and Millennial audience.  Julian Nott, founder and CEO of Pulped.com, talks about breaking through the clutter with edgy, irreverent – and low cost – content. 

What is the genesis of Pulped?

A few years ago, it struck me that the internet offers an amazing opportunity for TV producers.  We are all used to the idea of YouTubers making and distributing content, but it seems less considered how the internet equally allows production companies to do the same: to make, fully own and distribute their own content.  Producers can launch their own platforms at relatively low cost, unlike 20 years ago.  It has always seemed to me being a distributor or owning a platform is a better business than making content, since the content maker is at the mercy of networks and commissioning executives.

The journey hasn’t been easy.  It has taken a while to realize what our content sweet spot is.  Our young audience is weaning itself off studio shows, physical game shows, talent contests, or essentially any slow-moving narrative. They want short intense bursts of in-the-moment drama, comedy, rebelliousness, and provocation.  At Pulped, we are going through the process of trying to better understand the demand patterns of young audiences.  

We have also had to learn how to make productions at a much lower cost. Small crews, fewer executives, less paperwork, possibly less legal caution, are the name of this game. These online productions are simply not financially viable if they are made at the same cost basis as traditional programming.  If we can’t embrace this new low-cost way of working, there’s no hope. It sometimes means technical compromises and rough edges, but I’m not sure our young audience really minds that, particularly if it’s in line with their anti-establishment and rebellious nature.

What kind of content attracts young male viewers?

I think, first and foremost, the content needs to have that provocative and rebellious flavor, preferably with a comedic edge, and that works for either gender of younger viewers.  We’re still trying to absorb how the male/female divide might work, although we found one difference very quickly.  Young males respond better to a teasing, slightly more playful and less serious approach to the subject matter while females seem to prefer subjects be addressed more seriously and authentically.  We have a fixed rig hidden camera show where dating experts are engaged to help some tongue tied and inept daters make good approaches to strangers in a bar, via instructions given in a hidden earpiece.  Our dating experts inevitably amuse themselves by giving the daters some hopelessly absurd things to say, for the sake of a laugh, which can verge sometime on the slightly cruel. There’s a tendency for our male audience to enjoy this, but a common female reaction has been along the lines of, “this doesn’t make any sense. They’re supposed to be helping them, why are the experts making them say stupid things?”.

So, I would say, in our experience so far, young males can be attracted to more playful, possibly mildly cruel, content, that just doesn’t take itself too seriously, whatever topic it explores.

Was there research to determine what works best?

We’re more reactive.  With our cost base, we can’t spend a lot of money on market research. We generate fresh and interesting ideas from our own creativity and then see how the audience responds. We have learned quite a bit already, for example, mini-dramas, random stories about anything, don’t get the best response.  We do better if we tie in our content (scripted or unscripted) very tightly to the genuine real-life problems, anxieties and dilemmas of our young audience.  We are now focused on short content that functions like a meme in that it presents a genuine life issue, but develops it through story and comedy, and other twists and turns, to turn it into entertainment.  

We have to produce content that is truly different, because there is already too much content available, particularly online. My fear with evaluating program ideas that seek to be original using market research techniques is that anything truly fresh and groundbreaking may get a falsely negative response because people are simply not used to it.  I see the best way to make program choices is to employ creative people with fresh ideas, produce the show and see what sticks with the audience.  Having said that, we are very alert to general trends on what formats and shows are doing well on linear TV and online so we do not give ourselves a completely free rein.

Is there a difference between what attracts Gen Z and Millennials?

I don’t find making distinctions between these groups very useful for us.  There are so many factors and complexities in making a successful program that are about storytelling, performances, editing decisions, and so on. It is too nuanced for us to chase perceived and nebulous differences in neighboring generational interests. We’d be too distracted from what actually matters, which is successful storytelling. 

I think it’s our brand values that matter most, that we believe in what we are doing and we make content we believe is good, rather than chasing a demographic.  Our values are very close to what Gen Z stands for: inclusion, tolerance, multiculturalism, celebration of alternative life styles. I think if we are authentic to our beliefs and values, if we know what our brand is and stick to it, we will attract those Gen Z and Millennials who share the same interests.

How are you helping viewers discover Pulped?

At the moment we have a very active online advertising presence and we’re generating organic coverage on social media. We work with the agency CakeWorks in New York to run our campaigns.  

We’ll also soon begin to experiment more substantially with influencer campaigns.  So far, the recommendations we have received from influencers haven’t translated into enhanced viewing numbers.  Possibly influencers may be useful for selling handbags, make up and fashion because their function is to define which brands and things are cool, which their followers want to emulate.  I’m not sure yet if content works in the same way.  Do you care if your influencer likes a program or channel?  Are your influencers tastes in content so cool or superior to your own that you want to emulate them?   We’re about to find out.

Have you found you attracted a demo you hadn’t expected?

I think the results are more or less as expected, both in terms of nationality, age and gender. We do have the occasional surprise though.  A video we made on friend zoning went through the roof, and another has been very successful, totally unexpectedly, with a certain group of fetishists (https://pulped.com/shows/fck-my-life/?watch&episode=in-the-balls).