With users spending more and more time in the digital world, it has become imperative for brands and marketers to not only be present where their audience is but to also speak to them in a language they can relate to. Brands have been leveraging YouTube to do precisely that, with a unique blend of creativity and technology.
These results are evident from the recent YouTube Works Awards, which celebrated and championed brands that produced the most creative and effective campaigns on the video platform. The event showcased ideas that drove both awareness and action, and established what the marketing industry already knows – YouTube works.
Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, BBDO India, & Chair of the Jury, said, “The quality of nominations we have reviewed this year has been fantastic and our discussions were made more valuable with perspectives from within YouTube’s creator ecosystem. It’s great to see that brands are keeping in lock-step with the possibilities and potential of YouTube’s dynamic growth, not just in viewership, but in the range of opportunities – from smartphones to the living room and from Shorts to podcasts – the platform now provides brands to make creativity a lever for business growth. ”
Here’s a quick peek at a few select campaigns that won at the Indian edition of YouTube Works Awards 2022:
Takeaway 1 : You touch hearts, you drive sales!
Brand: Cadbury Celebrations (Mondelez)
Agency: Ogilvy, Wavemaker
Campaign: SRK-My-Ad
Winning Category: Tech Meets Creative and Grand Prix
Cadbury Celebrations partnered with YouTube to create a tech-led solution for small businesses. With the slump in sales faced by small stores across the country due to the pandemic, this campaign was a saviour. The brand enabled small stores to create their own ads with Shahrukh Khan as the brand ambassador.
“Sensational campaign by Cadbury Celebrations — they used YouTube, data, tech and star power to empower small businesses seamlessly,” said YTWA Grand Jury member and CMO of Sequoia India Gayatri Yadav.
The results?
130K customized videos were generated during the campaign, with a 60% higher engagement on YouTube and 42% growth in traditional trade.
Takeaway 2: You collaborate, you win!
Brand: Amazon Alexa
Agency: Interactive Avenues
Campaign: “Hey Alexa” in partnership – Social Media Star with Janice
Winning Category: Brand X Creators
“Amazon Alexa triumphantly drove relevance for a niche voice assistant segment with the help of a top YouTube creator’s talk show” said Gautami Kale, YTWA Grand Jury member and Founder of Slayy Point.
Amazon Alexa collaborated with Social Media Star with Janice to bring out its fun side on a game segment called “Hey Alexa”. To establish itself as India’s biggest smart assistant, celebrities were challenged to get Alexa to say a word – and it was hilarious!
Not only did this ensure that Alexa set itself apart as a voice assistant, but it also increased considerably among users. The results? More than 400M impressions, 25M+ views and most importantly, more buyers of the product.
Takeaway 3 : 6 seconds is lot if you are creative!
Brand: Perk (Mondelez)
Agency: Ogilvy, Wavemaker
Campaign: Perk Disclaimers
Winning Category: 6 Seconds Storytelling
Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO India & Jury Chair, said, “Perk cleverly used data to create short and hilarious pop-culture disclaimers on an incredibly impressive scale.”
Perk used YouTube’s trending searches to find videos before they went viral and added customized disclaimers on more than 2.5M videos. How did they do that? By prefixing these videos with 6-second ads gave the audience a trigger warning that matched the content in the video.
Not only did this position the brand in the narrative seamlessly, but it also became one of the most talked about ad campaigns. The results? 84M views, 635M impressions, and most importantly a 20% increase in sales.
Takeaway 4: Put people first; the results will follow!
Brand: HP India
Agency: Media Monks, Simple Creatives
Campaign: Diye Se Diya Jalao
Winning Category: Force For Good
If you think about it, some most successful campaigns have one common theme – they put people first and often endeavour to do good through their messages. HP India, which has always enabled kindness and empathy with its voice, did exactly that.
Speaking about the campaign, YTWA Grand Jury member and Chairman of BBH India Dheeraj Sinha said, “HP India’s campaign used an insightful made-for-YouTube creative, building a phenomenal cultural moment and bringing communities together.”
The results? The video got more than 15M views with the help of YouTube’s In-Stream Ads and powerful storytelling, delivering a 14% increase in brand trust.
From the very beginning, YouTube has championed digital content that stands out. The platform has further emphasized this through the YouTube Works Awards, which have rightfully become a go-to event for identifying the latest and greatest in the world of digital marketing.
These awards sets the benchmark on how brands should and can communicate with their consumers. The winning campaigns are great evidence of the results of relevant & effective leverage of YouTube, and how it can help engage with new audiences while driving amazing results.
Cheers to the winners and to the YouTube Works Awards 2022 for empowering these powerful campaign messages and brands for the second year running.
