Back to school before the time of small influencers

In front of the swarm of pens, Lili, 14, two blonde duvets pulled back, hesitates on the model she will choose for her passage in 3^e. “We can’t say… You have a choice at Bureau Vallée!” », pretends to be surprised by his big brother, Gabin, 17 year. Like real little communicators, Gabin and Lili praise the merits of their sponsor in all the sauces. “We have a great deal for you, friends: if you bring your calculator… Bureau Vallée takes it back, gives you 5 euros and gives you a new one!” » By collaborating with the two young influencers, the stationery brand offers itself great visibility, with 489 000 views in three weeks.

Every year in July, history repeats itself. Hundreds of videos “Back-to-school” (“back to school”) invade YouTube. The concept is simple: go on a “school supply hunt”, according to the established formula, in a sponsor store privatized for the occasion. Armed with the famous list of school supplies, Gabin and Lili wander around the shelves of Bureau Vallée, in Saint-Priest-en-Jarez (Loire). The duo brings together a community of 926 000 subscribers. Among their competitors, two channels of child influencers dominate the market: that of Studio Bubble Tea, with 1.82 million subscribers, and Swan & Neo, with no less than 6 million.

Product placement

Bureau Vallée (who did not wish to speak) and Cultura are the brands most mentioned in the videos “Back-to-school”. The Maped brand has also sniffed out the right vein. Children make up nearly 20% of their partnerships with influencers. Last year, the firm offered the services of Studio Bubble Tea. Embodied by child influencers Kalys and Athéna, 14 years and 10 years, the two videos in collaboration with Maped have accumulated a total of nearly 915 000 views. “We essentially work with exchanges of goods”, explains Guillaume Chauzu, digital and brand communication manager at Maped.

In exchange for product placement, children receive free stationery. The videos of child influencers, which yesterday looked like a hobby – a child recounting his daily life in front of the camera – have become, over time, a job deserving of a salary. Aware that the sector is changing, Guillaume Chauzu believes that the development of employment contracts will soon become essential, which Maped does not yet practice.

“From the moment you register the names of your kids as a brand, you can no longer speak of leisure! » Thomas Rohmer, President of the Observatory of Parenthood and Digital Education

Long under the radar, the case of these star brats of social networks alerted child protection associations and public authorities. On October 19, 2020, France passed a law “aimed at regulating the commercial exploitation of the image of children under 16 on online platforms”. Entry into force last April, with the publication of the first decree in Official newspaper, its objective is clear: to protect children from potential Thénardiers 2.0. The deputies modeled the legislation on that in force for child models and for those who evolve in the world of entertainment. The text requires parents to request authorization from the administration. The remuneration generated is then blocked by the Caisse des dépôts up to the majority of young influencers.

In children are kings (Gallimard, 2021), her last novel devoted to the subject, the writer Delphine de Vigan was precisely concerned about this ” exponential multiplication of traces, in the form of images or comments, traces which one would soon discover would not be erased”. This is no longer necessarily the case. The law opens a right to digital oblivion. Children will be able to ask platforms to remove a photo or video – without their parents’ consent.

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President of the Observatory of parenting and digital education (OPEN), Thomas Rohmer is worried about the overloaded schedule of these budding advertisers: “Five or six years ago, some children were shooting up to 27 videos of more than twenty minutes each month. The more the channels had subscribers, the more the pace of the videos accelerated. » A rhythm that is difficult to reconcile with schooling. He explains that the parents, starving for likes, talk about ” leisure “. “From the moment you register the names of your kids as a brand, you can no longer speak of leisure! », he raises. On the site of the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), Swan & Neo like Studio Bubble Tea are well classified as a brand. These two chains of child influencers even push the mercantile logic so far as to produce diaries, textbooks and kits bearing the effigy of these little princes of marketing.

Content creation takes time

Angie, aka Angie Maman 2.0 (1 million subscribers), did not wait for the law to be in order. Since his debut on YouTube in 2015, his 11-year-old son, Hugo, has been the other star of his channel, whose tone is above all humorous. When the 38-year-old former marriage counselor takes the plunge, the adventure begins like child’s play. “Initially, I started posting sketches with Hugo without imagining that it would all end up becoming professional! »

Very quickly, the mother of the family registered her son in a modeling agency and ensured that he had his own employment contracts. Thanks to a strict schedule, his working hours shooting are always carefully distributed over Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays. “No question of missing school for a collab! » Content creation takes time: a few minutes for a story, two to three hours on average for a video.

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In recent years, Hugo appears less on the screen. “For him, that represents two or three hours of work per month, no more,” Angie says. On the Angie Maman 2.0 Instagram account, one of Hugo’s latest shots is a partnership “Back-to-school” with the Caméléon satchel brand. Compensation for the collaboration for Angie: 2,000 euros. “It also includes all the stories we’ve done for this brand,” she hastens to add to justify the amount of the stamp. Of this sum, 350 euros go to Hugo. Revenues vary depending on the notoriety of each influencer. “According to the elements gathered a few years ago, the most popular children’s channels received an average of 150,000 euros monthly”, notes Thomas Rohmer.

Aberrations persist

Barely arrived in Nice from the Lyon region, at the beginning of July, Angie’s little family must shoot a short sequence to announce to the Instagram community the start of their vacation by the sea. “Every day, we have to capture the audience, otherwise people will forget us”, observes the thirties, sitting on the terrace facing the beach. In the background, the little boy, not very talkative, thinks of only one thing that afternoon: going for a swim. While he has little interest in fame, filming videos has, according to his mother, helped him a lot against his shyness. But his real passion has nothing to do with influence, Hugo is a scientist at heart, assures Angie: “He can spend hours watching documentaries on Arte. »

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Despite the new law, abuses persist. Alexia Pereira represents some of the 60 child influencers registered with Just Go Agency. She denounces the unfair competition of certain agencies: “We sometimes lose important contracts because our competitors do not ask for contracts for children. And some brands prefer to pay less than to be legal. » Today the law primarily aimed at parents. If they do not declare the activities of their child, they risk up to 75,000 euros in fines.