When campaigns harness the power of YouTube in conjunction with other media and social platforms we see some really creative results. Let’s take a look at a couple of our favourite examples:

Heineken - #MYSUNRISE



Heineken have recently kicked off a responsible drinking campaign centered around the idea that 'Sunrise belongs to moderate drinkers.' The goal is to make responsible drinking aspirational (see video above). Outlasting all his drunken friends on a night out, the hero ends his night by sharing a sunrise with star DJ Audrey Napoleon.

Developed by AKQA, the campaign was launched across four cities (London, Ho Chi Minh, Rio de Janiero and San Francisco) through a teaser campaign. Sofas featuring the hashtag #mysunrise were strategically placed in locations that offered the best sunrise view. Consumers were encouraged to post photos of their best sunrise moments, tagging them #mysunrise and then submitting them to the Heineken Facebook page. Each week the best sunrise images are retweeted by Heineken to their followers.

Hyundai Holidays



Over the past year Hyundai has been active in using musicians, particularly on Youtube, as the linchpin for several of their campaigns. Last Christmas they enlisted Youtube indie-rock stars Pomplamoose in a series of TV spots. In November they launched their RE:GENERATION music project to promote the new 3-door coupe, the Veloster. The project is a unique documentary film that follows five modern DJs who, through the use of technology, are changing the way the world creates and experiences music. The end result of the project was five new electronic music tracks influenced by genres across the musical spectrum.

As part of this season’s Hyundai Holidays campaign they’ve tweaked their previous activity in a way that’s appealing to both the TV and Youtube audience. Hyundai (and their in-house agency Innocean) have enlisted the creators behind two of our favorite pieces of user generated content from 2011. Have you seen the touching father-daughter cover of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - “Home”? What about the awesome Whole Food Parking Lot song from Fog & Smog? If not check out them out. Hyundai has enlisted the creators of both viral hits as part of a series of holiday spots (see above or here). While using Youtube stars as the subject of TV spots is nothing new, they’re also giving users a forum to showcase their talents or express their wishes for the holidays. The end of each commercial features a call to action encouraging users to upload a video to the Hyundai Youtube channel where they feature top submissions as well as the umbrella for all of Hyundai’s activity across Youtube, Facebook & Twitter.

Posted by Reuben Halper, Creative Services Team

One of the most popular categories on Youtube is beauty. From product reviews, to style tips, to how-to videos, there seems to be an insatiable appetite for beauty content among the Youtube audience. Youtube partners such as Lauren Luke, Michelle Phan, and countless others have built up a tremendous following and established their own personal brands on Youtube by producing videos that offer trusted beauty advice. In the past several years, we’ve seen brands such as L’Oreal and Sephora invest heavily in their Youtube presence to tap into this vast audience. For example, L’Oreal built up their own branded presence on Youtube across a number of markets. Additionally L’Oreal has also partnered with Youtube on Destination Beauty, a L’Oreal branded hub that aggregates videos from popular beauty gurus sharing the latest beauty trends and provides a product showcase for various L’Oreal products.

So how can an established beauty brand such as Estee Lauder differentiate themselves from their competitors on Youtube? In addition to building a self-contained platform for consumers, the folks at The Concept Farm developed several impressive ideas that really make the Estee Lauder Youtube channel stand out:

All of the how-to videos include the 'makeup mirror' feature which activates the webcam and allows users to watch the tutorial while trying the application method step-by-step, in real-time. In other words, they’re able to see both the video and themselves on screen at the same time, rather than switching back and forth between the video and their mirror as they experiment with new looks or tips.

Each video also has a 'featured products' icon/overlay that pulls in reviews and ratings from the Estee Lauder e-commerce site, providing users reliable feedback from other consumers without ever having to leave the Youtube environment. This functionality, combined with a direct path to purchase, easily shepherds users further down the purchase funnel.

In addition to those standout features, the channel also provides beauty techniques, tips/tricks, product lines, news, and behind the scenes/extra content from brand ambassadors, so have a look and a play around yourself on the Estee Lauder Youtube channel.

Posted by Reuben Halper, Google Creative Services

In our latest study, conducted in conjunction with GfK using their Media Efficiency Panel, for Renault, we see how YouTube can be used to complement TV campaigns to reach exclusive audiences.

Highlights from the study:

• Almost half of YouTube homepage reach was incremental to TV.

• Each of the three YouTube homepages reached a high level of exclusive audience. Only 8% of those reached were exposed to all three homepage ads.

• The YouTube homepages achieved a cost per reach point significantly lower than TV.

To see the full study, please download it here.


Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

Cross post from the YouTube Blog by Rachel Ball, Partner Development Associate

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are YouTube's newest megastars. Though half the globe was still in darkness, YouTube users from across the world got wedding fever for the Royal Household's official live stream of the landmark wedding on The Royal Channel.

The Royal Wedding was live streamed 72 million times around the world to 188 countries. Those who didn’t see it live still had an opportunity to don their fascinators and catch up with the re-broadcasts later in the day. When it was all said and done, the total streams on April 29, 2011 reached 101 million as romantics around the globe tuned in to watch the fairytale ceremony, the procession and the final balcony kiss.

And what a kiss it was…during the 10 seconds around the highly-anticipated Royal kiss, the YouTube channel site, powered by Google App Engine, experienced an additional 100,000 requests on top of the already high load … an effective additional 10,000 requests per second.

Live streams were highest in the UK and the US, but looks like love was in the air across the channel as well. The top 5 countries viewing the live event online were:

• United Kingdom
• United States
• Italy
• Germany
• France

The online excitement extended to The Official Royal Wedding website. Since the launch on March 2, there have been approximately 37.7 million page views from 13.7 million visitors to the site, which was hosted on Google App Engine and built by Accenture.

The entire live stream of the Royal Wedding, along with video highlights can be found on The Royal Channel.


Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

We are pleased to announce the release of our first multi-country reach and frequency study, with Ubisoft.

For the launch of their video game, "Michael Jackson: The Experience", Ubisoft ran a multi-media campaign in the UK, France and Germany.

The research conducted with GfK and MarketingScan, seeks to understand the overall impact of each media and YouTube formats in the mix-media in terms of reach and frequency. It also examines the incremental impact of YouTube in terms of reach, frequency and profiles.



Key findings from the study:

• YouTube can drive incremental reach for your campaign.

• The YouTube Masthead maximises incremental reach of YouTube, especially among core target groups aged 16-34.

• YouTube can optimise cost-efficiency of cross-media campaigns.

• A longer YouTube schedule - achievable with alternative formats (ROS, Pre-roll) - will help maximise reach potential of YouTube over four weeks and allow a greater cost-efficiency.

To learn more, please download the full study here.


Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

We are pleased to share our new cross-media study with LG, conducted in conjunction with MetrixLab. This is our first piece of cross-media research with a mobile manufacturer.

The study sought to understand the branding impact of YouTube within the media mix, specifically, the reach and incremental reach of TV and YouTube against the target audience. It also explores both the effectiveness and efficiency of TV and YouTube at shifting branding metrics.


Key findings are as follows:

• After adding YouTube to the media mix, an incremental 8% of the target audience was reached.

• YouTube delivered strong effect across LG's main branding metrics.

• YouTube was consistently more efficient than TV at delivering brand effect on the audience reached.

To find out more, the full study is available for download here.

Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

We know creative people on YouTube love turning an idea into a brilliant production. We also know they want their work to matter.

With this in mind, we’ve partnered with the 58th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Good Work, a new program that gives creative professionals the opportunity to use their skills to make a difference and gain recognition their work. Learn more in this video:



Through Good Work, nonprofits from all over the world can submit a brief for a video ad promoting their cause. These organizations often lack the resources and time to create a truly great ad for their cause - and this is where you can help. Pick a brief you want to work on from the Good Work briefs gallery and make an ad for that organization. Your ad can be inspirational, thought-provoking, funny, or serious - just make sure it’s also innovative and compulsively watchable.

If you succeed, you might be strutting your stuff at this year’s Cannes Festival - five talented people will win a trip to Cannes and have their work showcased there. Could it be you?

The deadline to submit your entry is May 9, 2011. A jury of top industry experts chaired by Craig Davis, Chief Creative Officer Publicis Mojo and founder of Brandkarma, will announce the winners on May 21, 2011.

Posted by Supriya Sharma, YouTube Product Marketing Manager

Here we share our recently released case study with Nutrigloss conducted in France. The study shows the incremental impact of a YouTube campaign on the offline sales of Nutrigloss shampoo.


Key findings are as follows:

• L’Oréal’s media spend became more efficient by using YouTube. Swapping some TV for YouTube achieved equivalent sales for 13% less budget.

• Adding a YouTube campaign after a TV burst helped to maintain sales up to 17% above their post-TV level.

• Up to 35% of those exposed to the YouTube & display campaign were not reached by TV.

• The YouTube & display campaign was very effective in complementing TV, over-exposing those least exposed to the TV campaign.

To learn more, please donwload the full study here.


Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

Cross post from the YouTube UK Blog

On July 24, 2010, thousands of people around the world uploaded videos of their lives to YouTube to take part in “Life in a Day,” a historic cinematic experiment to document a single day on earth. From Australia to Zambia, more than 80,000 videos, totaling 4,500 hours of footage, were submitted to the project. After months of hard work, Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald and a team of editors have created a 90-minute documentary film that gives a surprising, honest and entertaining self-portrait of our world.



While “Life in a Day” will be officially released later this year, tonight at 7pm (GMT) you have a very special opportunity to tune in to a rebroadcast of the world premiere from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. We hope you enjoy the film!

Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

We are pleased to share our recently released advertising effectiveness study conducted by Metrix Lab in the UK and Spain with Adidas.

This study sought to understand how the YouTube Masthead shifted key brand metrics for Adidas during their World Cup campaign.


Key findings from the study:

• The Adidas masthead on YouTube had strong cut-through and extremely high levels of recognition with close to two thirds of exposed respondents, in both the UK and Spain, recognising the campaign.

• Adidas’ top of mind association with the World Cup was lifted by 13% and 10% in the UK and Spain, respectively.

• The Adidas masthead on YouTube drove positive brand image association in both markets.

• Those exposed to the campaign in the UK conducted 93% more searches on the World Cup and Adidas than those who did not see the campaign.

To view the results in more detail, please download the full study here.

Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

We are pleased to share new research published this week in collaboration with the IAB and Facebook. It studies the behaviour and attitudes of YouTube and Facebook users, with the aim of understanding the role of each in users’ online lives. Specifically, it delves into the motivations for visiting these sites; the ‘social’ activities conducted on each; attitudes towards brand presence and different types of advertising on the sites; and behaviours around viewing and sharing brand content.



Key highlights from the study:

• While it’s commonly assumed that everyone uses YouTube and Facebook, the overlap is smaller than one would expect.

• Visits to YouTube tend to be for a specific motivation while visits to Facebook are to pass time.

• Social networking is greater than any single site. YouTube and Facebook play different but integral roles in a user’s online social experience.

• Brands that advertise on each site benefit from the perceived attributes of each site.

• Loyalty and familiarity are not the driving force behind recommendations. Whether people share or like a brand depends greatly on whether its content is interesting.

To learn more, please download the full study here.


Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

Here we share the latest research from Millward Brown which examines how YouTube homepage advertisements and the creative strength of an ad can impact viral viewing.



Key findings:

• YouTube homepage ads are directly or indirectly responsible for 86% of all views.

• 29% of total views from an ad are 'bonus' viral views from advertising on the YouTube homepage, above what would have been expected from the creative.

• Advertising a video on the YouTube homepage ensures that virtually all UK ads achieve 1,000+ views per week, and most (those with higher creative strength scores) achieve many more views.

• Creative strength remains an important factor in total views; there are some early indications that celebs may be particularly key.

If you would like to see the full research piece, please contact a member of our Team.


Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

We're pleased to announce the release of our new branding research study conducted with Decipher on the promoted videos ad format on You Tube.

This research helps us to understand whether a promoted video impression has cut-through, either with or without a click and how it impacts brand metrics.



Key highlights from this report:

• YouTube users are engaged and actively looking for information on products and brands
  67% of respondents claim to look for more information on a brand after viewing an ad on YouTube.

• Promoted video impressions stand out
  Ad recall from an impression is high: 23% on the search page and 43% on the watch page.

• All brand metrics were impacted by impressions alone
  - Unaided brand awareness increased by 3 times
  - Brand favourability increased by up to 44%
  - Purchase intent increased by 34%

• Users like the Promote Your Video format
  They find it helpful and say they click because the thumbnail catches their attention.

To learn more, please download the study here.


Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

Here we share our latest YouTube campaign effectiveness study conducted by MetrixLab with Sony PlayStation and OMD for the Spanish market.

The aim of this study was to quantify the effectiveness and cost efficiency of YouTube and other media within the mix.



Key findings from this study:

• YouTube delivers significant incremental net reach over all media.

• The cost per percentage point reached on YouTube is one third cheaper than TV.

• YouTube has a significant effect on key brand measures such as brand consideration, brand preference and purchase intent.

• In combination, YouTube and TV are significantly more cost effective than TV alone.

The full study is available for download here.


Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

As part of the Campaign Media Awards, YouTube has launched a competition to discover the Best Ad of the Year.

Visit our YouTube channel, youtube.com/iloveads, where you can upload your best and most creative ads of the last 18 months. All video ads that ran online or on television are eligible to enter and the aim is to find the most creative and entertaining ads. The ad that captures the imagination of the nation!



How it works
An expert panel will review the submissions and shortlist 28 ads, which will be put forward for the public vote. The winner will be announced and celebrated at the Campaign Media Awards on November 17th and receive a homepage takeover on YouTube, worth £75,000 and approximately 11 million views. Entry is free, all you need to do is upload the ad. No forms, no formalities!

Deadline for entries: 23 September 2010
Shortlist chosen by expert panel: 1 October-14 October 2010
Public vote: 15 October - 3 November 2010
Winner announced : Campaign Media Awards, 17 November 2010

Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

This is the 7th in our Planner’s Favourite series where we ask a respected planner from the media industry to judge a selection of campaigns that have run on our platforms. Please have a look at the campaigns below and watch this space for the judge’s verdict. -Ed.

Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

In February 2010, Old Spice launched “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign. They used online to amplify their TV ad, including ads across the Google Display Network, a YouTube Masthead & Promoted Video. Old Spice continued to build their YouTube community throughout the spring with another YouTube Masthead, further Promoted Video activity and additional videos.

In July, the brand launched a real-time social media campaign where the Old Spice Man personalised YouTube video responses to users, celebrities and bloggers who wrote YouTube comments, Tweets and Facebook messages.

Old Spice leveraged digital advertising throughout the year to build their audience, which ultimately contributed to the viral success of the real-time social campaign.

Campaign Results

• Old Spice videos took four of ten spots on the AdAge Viral Video Chart, including positions one through three.

• The Old Spice YouTube channel has over 11.6 million views and 165 thousand subscribers. It became the #1 viewed channel during the week and month of the campaign and #2 most subscribed sponsor channel of all time.

• Old Spice was a trending topic on Twitter, with over 94 thousand followers.

• Old Spice gained popularity on Facebook with over 706 thousand likes.

Samsung: 3D LED TV

In May 2010, Samsung was the first to introduce a large-scale commercial 3D-Outdoor projection mapping at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. For three nights, the projection interacted with the architecture of the building and viewers were able to experience the incredible 3D audiovisual effects. On the adjacent square, visitors were able to try out the new Samsung 3D LED TVs, and were offered a chance to win one of their own for the duration of the stunt.

In June, the 3D-megaprojection was translated to YouTube. Here, the projection was integrated into a YouTube ‘game take-over’. At first, it appears as if a normal video of the projection is being shown. That is until the YouTube page cracks, butterflies start flying out of the projection, and the new dimension of Samsung 3D takes over the page. It was the first time that a worldwide game-take-over was introduced on YouTube, whereby the video content was brought to life, allowing the user to interact with it. On the Samsung 3D branded channel, visitors were able to play a game where the aim was to click on as many butterflies as possible, to give them a chance to win a Samsung 3D LED TV.

Campaign Results

• The YouTube channel including game-takeover achieved more than 1 million views.

• One of the most subscribed sponsored channels ever.

LG: The Young & The Connected

In the spring of 2010, LG Electronics hoped to revive the classic soap opera model. The Young and the Connected showcases how unbelievably attractive and incredibly privileged 20-somethings incorporate internet-enabled mobile devices into their lives.

The series, targeting 16 to 24-year-olds, aims to show how LG’s innovative range of smartphones can enhance their lives, by constantly connecting them.
Each of the videos invites the viewer to see tools of modern communication used as dramatic devices. For example, the question of whether Twitter or Facebook is a better application for a marriage proposal, arises in one of the episodes. These programmes ran on LG’s Young & Connected YouTube channel.

Campaign Results

• The channel has received over 10 thousand views.

• The series of videos have collectively amassed more than 60 thousand views.

Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

The new YouTube channel, Bubble, showcases the best and brightest YouTube executions to date, be it a cool new viral or a stunning masthead.

The site is easy to navigate. It allows you to browse content by ads, check out the latest YouTube news or take a look at past viral advertising campaigns that have run on YouTube.

If you are looking for some inspiration, take a look at our most popular Bubbles as voted by subscribers of the channel each month.

If you are interested in learning about the benefits of advertising on YouTube, head to the 'How To' section. Here, you can also learn about the advertising formats that are available and how advertising analytics and insights can be utilised to optimise YouTube campaigns.

On Bubble, you will also find some useful videos on how YouTube impacts brand metrics. Here is a taster:



For all of this and much more, visit Bubble today.

Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

Here we share a truly inspiring story showing how Dr. Bob Wagstaff built his business by just advertising on YouTube.

Dr. Bob, the inventor of the Orabrush, tried somewhat unsuccessfully, to bring Orabrush to the market. He faced a string of rejections from various retailers and the $40k that he spent on an infomercial amounted to no more than 100 orders.

Following some market research carried out by university students, it emerged that a market for the Orabrush existed online. It was then that Dr. Bob decided to put together a YouTube video which has attracted over 12 million views and an enormous 19 million channel views to date.




This YouTube video, which only cost a few hundred dollars to create, attracted the attention of major distributors and retailers who were previously reluctant to buy into his idea.

From its invention in Dr. Bob's basement workshop to retailers around the world, the success of the Orabrush was only possible when a few people believed in it, and YouTube opened the way.


Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

Here we share the latest research from Ipsos which seeks to understand how consumers engage with media brands.

The study focuses on popular online video and TV brands and explores the three following types of engagement:

• Media brand engagement
  Are audiences engaged with my brand?

• Behavioural engagement
  How are audiences consuming my content?

• Advertising engagement
  Are audiences engaged with my advertising?
  

Out of the online video brands measured within the study, YouTube emerged as the most ‘engaging’, according to the results. Specifically, YouTube leads the way in terms of delivering positive word of mouth, ‘uniqueness’ and entertainment value. Moreover, of all the online video brands, YouTube is the most likely to be sought out.

To learn more, please download the full research here.

Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

This spring, the Indian Premier League (IPL) gave cricket fans the opportunity to watch the games live from their Official Channel on YouTube.

The IPL Channel launched in March and broadcast up to two live Twenty20 cricket games every day.



Now that the event has drawn to a close, YouTube have released a report which details the key insights and metrics.


The IPL YouTube Channel in numbers...

200 countries and territories covered

57,000 commercial hours

3,200,000 minutes of branding achieved through thumbnails

20,000,000 unique views (112 days of commercial video were consumed by these 20 million viewers)

54,000,000 channel views

560,000,000 cumulative minutes of exposure to display ads on the live channel


To learn more about the results and opportunities for 2011, download the full presentation here.


Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team