Inside the UK’s biggest content house

Envisioned as Big Brother for the TikTok generation, content houses have become a mecca for influencer marketing in the US. So is the UK ready to follow suit?

The rise of social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok over the last decade has led to a gold rush in influencer marketing, with everyone from dental hygiene brands to luxury fashion labels paying handsomely to land their products on the right feeds. As a multi-billion dollar industry has emerged, so too have the training academies, in-house managers and other business ventures designed to service its rapid expansion.

In LA, also known as the heartland of influencer marketing, content creators have been taking things a step further with the phenomenon of ‘collab houses’ – where groups of influencers rent out opulent mansions that would put the Love Island villa to shame. Far from being a place to party or find love though, the houses’ inhabitants have the collective goal of eating, sleeping and breathing content 24/7.

 

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The Hype House is one of the best known content houses in the US, having helped to establish the careers of influencer megastars including Addison Rae and Charlie D’Amelio, and is even set to get its own behind-the-scenes reality show courtesy of Netflix. Where LA goes, the rest of the world follows: launched last Autumn, the Wave House is Britain’s biggest content house to date. Running from September to December last year, the house’s first season amassed 3.8 million followers on TikTok, 56.2 million likes, and hundreds of millions of views for its videos of life inside the Essex-based mansion.