Is LMG becoming a brand/lifestyle company that does tech reviews for brand promotion/outreach?

[Techrocket9]

LMG has been very successful with merchandising, and it seems like the upcoming screwdriver and backpack projects are going to take that success to the next level.

 

Back in 2020 merch already accounted for 15% of gross revenue. With a long string of successful projects since (desk pad, hoodie, etc.) and more major ringers underway, I wouldn't be surprised if merch is creeping up on 50% of gross.

 

LMG has been steadily building product design talent, and LMG's high quality bar has garnered the LTT brand a reputation for quality.

 

That kind of reputation is really, really valuable. You can't buy it. The only way to get it is to demonstrate a commitment to quality even when that commitment isn't rewarded and resist numerous opportunities to cheap out for a quick buck.

 

At what point does the brand and merch business become more valuable than the tech review operation and become the de-facto core of LMG's operation?

 

LMG might end up a lifestyle company with quirky technology sub-units (LLT Labs, Floatplane, LTT Videos) that get funded as marketing/brand expenses of the core business of selling high-quality lifestyle items.

 

As long as Linus retains full ownership of LMG this shift doesn't have to mean anything for day-to-day operations unless Linus wants it to, but as soon as LMG leaves Linus' control any profit-oriented purchaser would restructure the company around its core revenue-generating operations.

____

 

Perhaps this eventuality could be headed off with a preemptive corporate restructuring; wrapping the LMG merch division up as its own corporate entity (potentially with separate leadership) separate from LMG tech would allow both organizations to focus on what they do best (and someday potentially be sold separately).

[da na]

I'd say 90% of the people buying LTT merch are coming from LTT's channels to support them - merch couldn't survive without the channel. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

19 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

I'd say 90% of the people buying LTT merch are coming from LTT's channels to support them - merch couldn't survive without the channel. 

The screwdriver alone costs about 20x what I paid for mine BEFORE shipping.  I get its extremely well made and customised, but its not like I re-build my PC every week, I can't rationalise the price.  I don't even use my own ratchet screwdriver much, usually preferring a good old basic one that has better reach in tight spaces.

Its only a certain kind of person who is buying this stuff, its not mass-market, I don't need a merch message and the videos are mostly entertainment as far too often they gloss over important details or aren't scientific about their conclusions.  I take most of their conclusions with a pinch of salt finding this forum far more useful.

I don't really mean to sound so negative, I enjoy the videos a lot, but I have almost zero interest in the merch and that drops to exactly zero if the videos were gone.  The only reason I've even slightly considered the merch is for the videos, but between sponsors and merch plugs, its actually gotten somewhat annoying having so much advertising pushed at me.

[da na]

3 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

The screwdriver alone costs about 20x what I paid for mine BEFORE shipping.  I get its extremely well made and customised, but its not like I re-build my PC every week, I can't rationalise the price.  I don't even use my own ratchet screwdriver much, usually preferring a good old basic one that has better reach in tight spaces.

Its only a certain kind of person who is buying this stuff, its not mass-market, I don't need a merch message and the videos are mostly entertainment as far too often they gloss over important details or aren't scientific about their conclusions.  I take most of their conclusions with a pinch of salt finding this forum far more useful.

I don't really mean to sound so negative, I enjoy the videos a lot, but I have almost zero interest in the merch and that drops to exactly zero if the videos were gone.  The only reason I've even slightly considered the merch is for the videos, but between sponsors and merch plugs, its actually gotten somewhat annoying having so much advertising pushed at me.

The screwdrivers, ETC are valid, yeah. Like for example even if I didn't know who tf Gamers Nexus was I'd still keep the sphere on my desk since the focus of it is not Gamers Nexus, it's the laser etched PC inside the ball. But a shirt that says "Linus Tech Tips" if there isn't a Linus Tech Tips wouldn't fly. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

9 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

The screwdrivers, ETC are valid, yeah. Like for example even if I didn't know who tf Gamers Nexus was I'd still keep the sphere on my desk since the focus of it is not Gamers Nexus, it's the laser etched PC inside the ball. But a shirt that says "Linus Tech Tips" if there isn't a Linus Tech Tips wouldn't fly. 

I will point out, I've never been into brand promotion and I certainly don't see the point in promoting that I watch a popular (within its niche mind you) YouTube channel that nobody is going to recognise.

 

The only reason I ever wore something branded is because it was cheap, or because I was going to a convention where I might want to meet other people who like the same thing I do.

 

That's the great thing about Gamers Nexus merch which I DID consider but also seemed way out of my budget.  They come up with really interesting designs that aren't just about promoting their brand, they look cool.  I was very tempted to get the coasters.

For much smaller niche channels, I support them on Patreon instead.  Linus has so many sponsors I just don't feel he NEEDS the income.  I mean you could fit my house into his new one about a hundred times over (and its rented), I'm definitely not his target demographic.

[TetraSky]

The only youtuber merch I've ever bought, was the LTT desk pad. Because for the price, it's an incredible value and I couldn't, at the time, find any other competing desk pad for that size, for that price. 

Heck, even today, you'd be hard pressed to find a 1500x900mm (59x35.5inch) deskpad for "just" $30.
It's the fact that the price remains the same regardless of the size you want, that I liked the most, honestly. Sure if you need a smaller than 900x400, you could probably find a generic deskpad on ebay or amazon for cheaper. But higher than that... you'd be lucky to find one in the exact dimensions you want.

 

So I for one would welcome LMG becoming a proper e-retailer with other stuff for sell. Also, I believe they literally talked about this on yesterday's WAN show.

[rrats]

USB C t-shirt looks pretty cool though.

[LAwLz]

I'd say LinusMediaGroup is an advertising company that happens to make tech videos.

Their biggest source of revenue are sponsors. A big portion of their merch success can surely be attributed to the constant advertising they do for it on their channel as well.

At a glace, their "non-tech" videos also seem to be doing just as well as their tech videos.

[Sauron]

Depends on what you consider "core business" to mean. Obviously it's not the content itself that brings in money but rather the ads and the merch - however that income is used to the end of creating more content.

[TheSpaceOtter]

Just give me the backpack already! 

[Lord Bloobus]

If Linus makes the tech travelers dream backpack I want one. I go between locations constantly and it's so annoying not having proper support or sensible storage. Also I trust them to make a product I can use basically forever, so I'm also getting a screwdriver.

[Needfuldoer]

I vaguely remember Linus saying on WAN Show once that he doesn't want lttstore.com to "just be YouTuber merch", but to make the kind of 'nice stuff for techies' that he would want to buy for himself. I've bought a couple desk pads (given as gifts) and a water bottle (for me), and I think they hit that mark.

[CephDigital]

Only piece of merch I bought was the water bottle cause I'm a software dev and it suits me nicely

 

The only thing I would buy is probably the screwdriver cause I don't have a ratcheting one and it looks more useful to me when messing with my 3D printer compared to my ifixit one which is a little too small for it. 

[ToboRobot]

I don't confuse the content with the monetization strategy.