Caitlin A. Murray · Follow
4 min read · Dec 10, 2019
In a 2016 video, Vine star turned YouTuber David Dobrik surprised two of his hometown best friends with $4500 World Series tickets. After the tickets made his friend Alex cry, Dobrik joked “It’s like I bought you a car!” The video, which received over 6.4 million views, was sponsored by SeatGeek, a mobile-based ticketing app for live sports, concerts, and theater events, but that was only the beginning.
In another video sponsored by SeatGeek in 2018, Dobrik bought a brand new Mercedes-Benz for the same friend. Well, technically, he bought brand new Mercedes-Benzes for three friends. As of December 2019, that video has over 13.4 million views.
David Dobrik launched his YouTube channel in 2014. Now, he has over 14 million subscribers and over six billion total views. With an audience that size, he’s a perfect influencer for brands seeking mass exposure.
Since Dobrik’s partnership with SeatGeek began in 2016, SeatGeek has sponsored over 20 of Dobrik’s YouTube videos.
Dobrik, even if he doesn’t realize it, is using all six of marketing professor and author Jonah Berger’s techniques for contagious content: social currency, stories and emotions, practical value, and public and triggers.
Sharing remarkable things
David Dobrik — with money from SeatGeek sponsorships — has given cars to numerous friends, his assistant, and his dad. Most people would say that’s pretty remarkable. Because of that, people share these videos with their friends for social currency.
In “Contagious: Why Things Catch On,” Jonah Berger explains that “sharing extraordinary, novel, or entertaining stories or ads makes people seem more extraordinary, novel, and entertaining.”
Each one of Dobrik’s SeatGeek sponsored videos has this same extraordinary quality, thanks to his decision to only feature brand deals when the money was used to make the video. All of the money goes somewhere, whether it’s purchasing a car, paying off student loans or purchasing Macbooks for college students. After so many videos, that formula could get old, but Dobrik’s views prove that isn’t the case for him.
A good story with a happy ending
Berger says stories “ provide a quick and easy way for people to acquire lots of knowledge in a vivid and engaging fashion.” Describing David Dobrik’s videos as quick and vivid could be considered an understatement.
Thanks to his unique, fast-paced video style, each of Dobrik’s videos contains at least one if not multiple stories, all in four minutes and twenty seconds.
In a 2019 video with 12.5 million views, Dobrik’s friend Mariah entered a contest for $3000, promising she would give the money to her parents who were struggling financially. After winning, she wrote them a check for $5000, clearing out her bank account. Dobrik flew to Las Vegas with Mariah and their friends to bet $20,000, provided by SeatGeek, to see if he could double it. After winning, he surprised Mariah by revealing the money was actually for her.
Not only is this a full narrative, but it presents an emotional and awe-inspiring ending. We’re compelled to share these videos because sharing emotions allow us to connect. “ It highlights our similarities and reminds us how much we have in common,” according to Berger.
I’ve teared up watching Dobrik surprise one of his friends, and every time I text my friends to make sure they’ve seen it too. If they haven’t, I send it their way and Dobrik gains another view. As Berger says, “when we care, we share.”
Everyone loves a good deal
While not as exciting as a new car, there’s practical value to using SeatGeek and David Dobrik’s promo code. SeatGeek already provides low-cost tickets to live events and with the $20 off users get using Dobrik’s code, consumers get a great deal out of the pairing.
“People like to pass along practical, useful information,” explains Berger. If someone loves going to concerts, then that’s useful information.
Where SeatGeek benefits
This partnership benefits SeatGeek because of the public visibility gained through David Dobrik’s videos and the strong association formed between Dobrik and their brand. Public visibility is a key factor in the spread of information. In the words of Berger, “if something is built to show, it’s built to grow.”
Tubefilter reported in August that SeatGeek sales from Dobrik’s promo code and those of other influencers have grown over 1500% since they began collaborating with influencers in 2015.
It’s impossible not to think of SeatGeek when watching one of Dobrik’s large-scale surprises. It’s a situational reminder known as a trigger. It works the other way around too, like how I think of Dobrik every time I see SeatGeek on my phone.
Bottom Line
SeatGeek works with over 1,000 influencers, but none of those partnerships are as well-known or successful as their collaboration with Dobrik. David Dobrik knows how to create viral content, and both he and SeatGeek reap the benefit.
