How DR. DISRESPECT survived his Twitch Ban with his BRAND!
Herschel "Guy" Beahm IV, aka Dr. Disrespect
Back in mid June 2020, the popular video game streamer Dr. Disrespect (Herschel "Guy" Beahm IV,) was suddenly perma-banned from the video streaming giant Twitch with no reason given, a move that to this day, shocks everyone in the live-streaming and video game community. Rumors and allegations have been flying ever since but no official response from Twitch has come, and according to the Doc himself, Twitch has not said what he was banned for.
The only (vague) statement from Twitch reads;
“As is our process, we take appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our community guidelines or terms of service. These apply to all streamers regardless of status or prominence in the community.”
In an instant, his channel, VODs, emotes, everything on his main platform, was gone. No warning, no reason. Twitch is widely known for being somewhat wishy-washy on the moderation of it’s users. Some streamers who blatantly break the website's TOS are given nothing more than a slap on the wrist and a warning (if that), whilst others are given more hefty punishments for things that just barely toe the line (or in some cases isn’t even close to the line at all). So it comes as a bit of a shock that the largest live streaming platform on the internet today would, without warning, permanently ban one of it’s most popular streamers with more than 4 million subscribers. Especially after losing both Ninja (15 million followers) and Shroud (7 million) to the Microsoft-owned live streaming platform “Mixer” (and what a roller coaster THAT was).
Most Followed Twitch channels, Wikipedia
Yet despite all this, and the fact that the Doc was missing from the internet and live streaming for an entire month (an eternity in the live streaming community), he made a roaring come-back on YouTube Live. His first live video, basically a screen saver of a Lamborghini at a rainy gas station with some music playing in the background, gathered about 500,000 viewers, topping out at 150,000 live viewers at one time. To be clear, the Doctor never even appeared on the live stream itself. Towards the end of the live stream, some text appeared announcing the Doc’s return to live streaming on the YouTube Live platform the following day.
How did a man who hadn’t streamed or made an appearance outside of a handful of tweets in over a month garner that many views on his live stream comeback? The answer is branding.
A screenshot from the Doc’s first live stream since the Twitch ban on YouTube Live
Having a strong personal brand in this day and age of the internet and fast moving attention is of the utmost importance. Dr. Disrespect is a character that Herschel plays on screen. The cocky, arrogant, mans man who takes games seriously, proclaims to be a 2-Time World Champion, and definitely has a few Lambos in the garage is a fantastic case study in how branding makes all the difference in the world for your business or personal image.
Doc’s branding is incredibly consistent thru his streams, youtube videos, ads, sponsorships, tweets, and all other forms of media he appears in. His fans, aka the Champions Club, receive “firm handshakes” after a great stream, and plenty of personal interaction thru chat. Despite his cocky and arrogant demeanor, he treats his fans with respect while staying completely in character. He used the Twitch platform to grow his fanbase and establish that connection with the Champions Club regularly and often, while simultaneously being entertaining and engaging to watch.
Dr DisRespect attends The 2019 ESPYs (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)
Does this mean that you have to play a character on your podcast or live stream or in your business? No. But in everything you do, you have to keep your brand in mind and act accordingly. The Doc’s branding survived and even thrived in the aftermath of being thrown off the platform that was his bread and butter and one of his main sources of income. Thanks to his brand, this didn’t completely destroy him, and was but merely a bump in the road.
On top of great branding, Dr. Disrespect is also incredibly marketable.
If your main platform was gone in an instant over night (which as we’ve seen, can literally happen to anyone without warning no matter how big or small you are), would your fans and customers know where else to find you or how to find you? Having a strong brand also means being present on all platforms. This doesn’t mean copying and pasting every post to every platform. Engaging on Twitter while making videos for YouTube and long form posts on Facebook while uploading meaningful pictures and copy on Instagram whilst also creating audio podcast content and writing LinkedIn articles (hello) just scratches the surface. Meaningful, individual content made for the specific platform is everything for your brand and makes the difference when the inevitable “bump in the road” comes your way.
