LONDON, June 8 /PRNewswire/ --
- Britain Spent up to GBP20 Billion in Last Year on Expert Services
- New Launch From Pioneering Website Drives the 'Democratisation of
Expertise' to Meet Our Demand for Experts
New research by VideoJug.com, the home of online expertise,
has shed light on the huge demand for experts of every kind in Britain and
revealed that people spend an enormous amount of time and money seeking and
paying for expert help. The research found that people in Britain have spent
up to GBP20 billion on experts' services in the last year alone and say they
also spend a total of nearly 30 million man days trying to find the right
expert every year! The research comes as VideoJug.com today launches its new
online 'Ask the Expert' service, which aims to revolutionise access to world
class expertise for everyone - making an unrivalled range of experts
available for free.
Clever-blogs
VideoJug's research shows the extent to which we rely on words
from the wise and tips from the top to help in every aspect of our daily
lives - from our health to our housing. 95% of Britons admit that they turn
to experts to solve a problem, with 84% saying they always take the expert
advice they have been given - including 20% who claim they follow it 'to the
letter'. A stubborn 1% claim they always ignore expert advice!
With the launch of VideoJug's new 'Ask The Expert' service,
world class expertise will no longer be the domain of the rich and
privileged. The service means that Britain is set to be "expert savvy" when
talking to professionals and will get better value for the time and money
spent sourcing expertise. With 'Ask The Expert', VideoJug is revolutionizing
the access people have to experts, offering a world of in-depth expertise at
their fingertips: all in one place and in an easy to use format.
VideoJug's innovative new 'Ask the Expert' service gives
people access to over 13,000 professionally-made, expert videos for free and
it plans to grow this library of expert advice to over 100,000 videos in the
coming months. VideoJug experts cover a range of topics from health to
hobbies, parenting to property and technology to travel.
"There are a plethora of sources of expert information
available to people and we have become very reliant on them. However, our
research has shown us that consumers get very frustrated deciphering complex,
lengthy and often very dull text-based advice. On VideoJug.com we now have
hundreds of experts from scientists to estate agents, lawyers to vets and
professors to financial advisors, with filmed answers to more than 13,000
questions. It's like having an expert on hand to explain things simply and
directly - and of course the service is for free!" comments Dan Thompson,
Group CEO of VideoJug.
Expert-Ease
A key reason for our reliance on experts stems from the belief
of 1 in 4 people that 'life is too complicated'. A bold 49% of Brits claim
they will only turn to expert help if they can't work out things for
themselves and need more help. 21% will turn to friends and family first.
And in our constant search for expert advice, we are fast
becoming pseudo-experts ourselves. Nearly a third (30%) will share expert
advice they have received with their nearest and dearest - even if they
haven't asked for it. And 23% state they would 'like somewhere where they can
share their knowledge'. In response to this, VideoJug has launched a set of
community tools that enable their visitors to do exactly that - share
experiences and knowledge with each other on a wide range of topics.
'Micro-Expertise'
VideoJug's research also found that our quest for ever more
detailed expertise is taking us into areas that are increasingly specialist.
Dubbed 'micro-expertise', this phenomenon is being tackled by VideoJug.com
with its 'Ask The Expert' service, which has the answers to the most detailed
of questions, ranging from 'How does chemotherapy work?' to 'Which wines are
a good investment?'
The top 10 topics we want expert advice on are:
- Relationships & Family
- Finance
- Food & Drink
- Home and Garden
- Beauty
- Health
- Sports
- Pets
- DIY
- Autos
Notes to Editors
- CEO Dan Thompson and Creative Director Danny Kelly are
available for interview, as are a number of the experts involved in the site
from the UK.
- Fieldwork was carried out in two stages by YouGov:
7-14.08.06 and 21-23.05.07, based on a nationally representative sample of
more than 2,000 adults (18+) in Britain.
- VideoJug hosts one of the world's largest, most all-encompassing
libraries of factual content online. Our professionally-produced, high
definition video content covers every conceivable topic and delivers the
definitive online "encyclopedia of life". The content is divided into a
variety of formats that include informative "How To" and "Ask The Expert"
films that take users, step-by-step through everything from the lighter, more
welcome aspects of life (leisure, hobbies, beauty and style) to the more
serious tribulations we all face in day-to-day life (health, legal, money,
parenting).
Every video on our website has been carefully researched and
professionally produced or vetted (in the case of user-generated content)
with an eye toward quality and value. VideoJug embraces its mission of being
the definitive source for credible answers and wisdom for every conceivable
aspect of human life. No matter who you are, no matter what your problem may
be, VideoJug is here to help, inform and inspire.
With offices in Los Angeles, London and Spain, VideoJug is
producing thousands of films each month and is committed to increasing the
breadth and depth of its content library, exploring new formats, branching
out globally and building a community of users seeking information about life
and how to live it to the fullest.
- The figure of 'up to GBP20 billion spent on experts in the
last year' was calculated based on responses to the question 'How much have
you spent in total on different experts and professionals in the last six
months?' Responses were calculated against their proportion of the adult
population of Britain (44.2 million). The total amount of money claimed to
have been spent in the last six months was GBP10,192,232,700. For a year this
is GBP20,384,465,400.
- The figure of 'nearly 30 million days trying to find the
right expert every year' was calculated based on responses to the question
'How much time in total have you spent researching/looking for an expert to
help you in the last six months?' Responses were calculated against their
proportion of the adult population of Britain (44.2 million). The total
amount of time claimed to have been spent in the last six months was
352,716,000 million hours, which is 29,393,000 days in a year.
VideoJug.com
For further information contact Simon Tunstill, Sally Payne or Leann Lavery at Braben on +44-(0)20-7566-2990 or at firstname@braben.co.uk
