Instagrammers, YouTubers rank among Czechia's top influencers

YouTuber Karel Kovář aka Kovy, presenter and singer Leoš Mareš, and actress Nikol Leitgeb (formerly Štíbrová) are some of the most famous influencers in the Czech Republic, ČTK reports.

The findings come from a study that the Center for Marketing Research and Market Analysis of the Faculty of Business Administration of the University of Economics (VŠE) conducted on around 400 respondents aged 15 to 34. The respondents were able to list between 135 and 196 influencers from memory.

The most famous influencers have not significantly changed over the past few years. "In the last three years, the Czech influencers who were spontaneously mentioned first by the respondents have not changed much," the study reveals.

Radek Tahal, who conducted the study, said that Kovy and Leoš Mareš always appeared among the most often spontaneously recalled influencers, making them "the two most stable and well-known Czech influencers."

Tahal pointed out that TMBK and Sugar Denny, whose number of followers increased significantly last year, were "interesting personalities." He also mentioned Petr Mára and Adam Kajumi, the most popular Czech influencer on TikTok whose follower count is constantly growing.

Still, the study doesn't reflect the number of followers that each of the influencer has. In that respect, the Czech Republic’s most popular male influencer remains ex-footballer Petr Čech, while Prague-based pencil artist Silvie Mahdal keeps the crown the most followed female Instagram influencer.

While influencers themselves are growing in popularity, so is the idea of becoming one. The Czech Republic has it's very own "school for influencers" at the new U2B multimedia secondary school. Students at the school learn film, fashion, and photography techniques, as well as monetization, e-commerce and other related subjects.

Annual tuition at U2B runs CZK 312,000, making it one of most expensive private schools in the Czech Republic, according to iDnes.cz.