Get ready for the second US invasion by British chef Jamie Oliver.
The 39-year-old outspoken foodie and multimedia threat is hitting our shores this month in an attempt to drum up advertiser support for Food Tube, his 18-month-old YouTube cooking destination and to promote his upcoming US cookbook.
The moves come as Oliver’s UK-based company — which houses a restaurant chain as well as media assets — saw pretax profit fall by a third in 2013, in part because of a slowdown in book sales.
The US campaign amounts to a comeback for the healthy-eating guru whose “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” an ABC reality TV show, won an Emmy and headlines in 2010 for visiting a West Virginia school district in an attempt to get elementary school students to eat better.
But the next year, Oliver created more of a ruckus than ratings when he was denied access to LA schools. The show was canceled and Oliver retreated to Britain.
The English entrepreneur and originator of the new online channel, Drinks Tube, will be in New York City later this month to take part in an Advertising Week panel called “The Game Changers: Engaging a Digital Native Generation,” in which brands do more than just sponsor programs.
Food Tube is almost at 1 million subscribers, just the kind of scale to entice major brands to promote their products. By comparison, fellow British chef Nigella Lawson has just 1,675 YouTube subscribers.
YouTube cooking-channel hosts are charging up to $50,000 for brand mentions and a commitment to tweet a couple of times about products soon after promotions, research by The Post suggests.
Bigger campaigns involving customized video starring celebrity chefs who agree to help market products can fetch between $50,000 and $250,000.
Mark Fortner, managing partner at MediaCom, told The Post that Jamie Oliver will have to compete against a universe of “food selfies.”
“Social media has made the food space more competitive than ever. As a result, there’s a new breed of influencers giving you everything from recipes to exotic ways to use zucchini on Instagram and YouTube,” he said.
Manatt Digital Media’ Peter Csathy, a banker who specializes in the YouTube space, agreed, saying, “It sounds like there could be an overlap in what they’re doing.”
Csathy suggests Oliver could monetize his destination by creating a paid subscription tier, by offering longer-form programming, or linking to produce purchases rather than the more traditional product placement.
Oliver’s sometimes-controversial stances, like his campaign against the use of hormones in US foods, helps to make him stand out from the crowd, his US publicist told The Post. “That’s what makes him so great. He’s very vocal,” she said.
Oliver’s new book, “Jamie’s Comfort Food,” will be published by HarperCollins, part of News Corp, the owner of The Post.