Millennials of Singapore

Millennials of Singapore is an online publisher belonging to the GRVTY Media group.[1] It started as a digital magazine in 2017. In more recent years, Millennials of Singapore has been recognised for its Real Talk series on YouTube starring Jade Rasif, Saffron Sharpe, Hashy Yusof, Dew and Johnathan. As of March 2020, Millennials of Singapore has about 190,000 YouTube subscribers and over 6,000 and 75,000 followers on Instagram and Facebook respectively. The latter two platforms are mainly used for content promotion.

Millennials of Singapore is most recognised for its video content on YouTube (pictured). Thumbnail from YouTube video.

Background

 
Millennials of Singapore is a part of the GRVTY Media group.

Origins (2017)

Millennials of Singapore was launched as one of GRVTY Media's sister sites in 2017.[2] GRVTY Media is the parent company of publishing sites like Vulcan Post, The Playbook and DiscoverSG.[3] As of March 2020, Johnathan Chua is the Business Director of GRVTY Media and one of the hosts on Real Talk.[4] Co-founder Jacky Yap is the Managing Director of the company.[5]

Business model

 
Johnathan Chua is one of the co-founders of GRVTY Media and a host on Millennials of Singapore's Real Talk. Photo credit to Najeer Yusof/TODAY.

In 2020, Channel News Asia published a story revealing the inner workings of YouTube economics. In the article, co-founder Johnathan shared that certain videos have been sponsored by large paying clients like Grab. Using the "soft sell" technique, Millennials of Singapore can seamlessly incorporate their client's messaging into their videos without compromising on their own branding.[6]

Content growth

Digital magazine

Millennials of Singapore started as a digital magazine that published opinion pieces and mini-biographies.[7] At the time, the site also used Instagram to feature the stories of everyday millennials.[8] Readers were encouraged to participate in The Great Singapore Tip off - an initiative where individuals could be nominated to have their stories told on the site's platforms.[9]

YouTube channel

 
Pictured: On the set of Real Talk. Photo credit to Najeer Yusof/TODAY.

Millennials of Singapore only started making YouTube videos in 2018. By the end of the year, they had been recognised as the top rising creator in Singapore.[10][11] As seen on YouTube Rewind (Singapore), Millennials of Singapore had also made it to the "Top Trending Videos of 2019" list - ranking alongside major players like JianHao Tan and Ryan Sylvia.[12]

Year Series Episodes Playlists
2020 - present Doing Things With Ministers 1 Grace Fu
Unspoken 2 Playlist
2019 - present Uncovered 2 Playlist
2018 - present Real Talk 37 Playlist
When I Was Your Age 8 Playlist
Love & Relationship 15 Playlist
Millennial Stories 35 Playlist

The YouTube channel properly took off with Real Talk - a talk show starring Dew, Johnathan, Saffron Sharpe and Jade Rasif. As of March 2020, Real Talk episodes are some of the highest viewed videos on the YouTube channel.[13] Standing at over 1.7 million views, the most viewed upload on the channel is Real Talk's 2018 highlights video. In September 2019, Saffron announced her departure from the channel to further her studies overseas[14] and was replaced by Hashy Yusof.[15]

Awards & accolades

Overview

In December 2018, Millennials of Singapore was recognised as the top rising creator in Singapore by YouTube.

Year Award Awarding Organisation Refs.
2018 Rising Creators List (#1) YouTube Singapore [16][17]
2017 Best Launch/Relaunch By a Media Owner (Gold) Spark Awards [18][19]

Spark Awards (2017)

Just four months into its founding, Millennials of Singapore won a Gold award at the Spark Awards 2017. Present at the event were established media companies like Mediacorp and Media Prima who came out overall tops at the award ceremony.[20]

References / Citations

  1. "GRVTY Media Homepage". GRVTY Media. Accessed on 26 March 2020.
  2. "Digital media company GRVTY Media brings together six online publications". Marketing Interactive. May 24, 2017. Accessed on 26 March 2020.
  3. "GRVTY Media Homepage". GRVTY Media. Accessed on 26 March 2020.
  4. Johnathan Chua. “About”. LinkedIn. Accessed on 17 March 2020.
  5. Jacky Yap. "About". LinkedIn. Accessed on 26 March 2020.
  6. Ong Lauren, and Wong Pei Ting. "The Big Read: Power, fame and fortune - a glimpse into Singapore’s lucrative YouTube industry". Channel News Asia. January 13, 2020. Accessed on 26 March 2020.
  7. Homepage”. MillennialsofSG. Accessed on 16 March 2020.
  8. Millennials of Singapore. Instagram. March 31, 2017. Accessed on 26 March 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/p/BSTM-QLjeD1/
  9. Singaporean Stories, Inspiring Possibilities”. MillennialsofSG. Accessed on 17 March 2020.
  10. Millennials Of Singapore. “Personal Highlights of 2018 - Real Talk Episode 14”. YouTube. December 30, 2018. Accessed on 17 March 2020.
  11. Tan, Alanna. “Millennial Stories, Blockchain, Fortnite: These Are The YouTube Channels That S'pore Loved In 2018”. Vulcan Post. December 6, 2018. Accessed on 17 March 2020.
  12. YouTube Rewind (Singapore). "Top Trending Videos of 2019 (Singapore)". YouTube. Accessed on 26 March 2020.
  13. Millennials of Singapore. "Popular Uploads". YouTube. Accessed on 26 March 2020.
  14. Millennials Of Singapore. “Saffron's Farewell - Episode 31”. YouTube. September 23, 2019. Accessed on 17 March 2020.
  15. Millennials Of Singapore. “New Cast Member: Introducing Hashy! - Real Talk Episode 32”. YouTube. October 17, 2019. Accessed on 17 March 2020.
  16. Choo Yun Ting. "Local content tops trend list for YouTube S'pore". The Straits Times. December 7, 2018. Accessed on 26 March 2020.
  17. Farzanah Farveen. "5 rising YouTube content creators you must know in Singapore". Marketing Interactive. December 7, 2018. Accessed on 26 March 2020.
  18. Tay, Samantha. “Thankfully, No One Kanye'd Us At This Year's SPARK Awards - Where We Stood Among Giants”. Vulcan Post. August 21 2017. Accessed on 16 March 2020.
  19. Media Prima score big at 2017 Spark Awards”. New Straits Times. August 19, 2017. Accessed on 17 March 2020.
  20. Tay, Samantha. "Thankfully, No One Kanye'd Us At This Year's SPARK Awards - Where We Stood Among Giants". Vulcan Post. August 2017. Accessed on 26 March 2020.