YouTube helps brands reach non-TV watching audience

By Patricia Mirasol

Brands that utilize YouTube as a marketing platform are able to complement their reach in traditional media such as television (TV), according to data from the Philippines gathered by Google and YouTube.

According to a Google cross-media reach report from January 2020 to May 2021, more than 50% of the 18- to 34-year-old audience reached on YouTube was incremental to TV. YouTube’s internal data, culled between 2017-2020, also reveal the platform’s effectiveness as 3.4 times greater than TV’s.

“If you’re planning a video campaign for marketing, adding YouTube to TV equals more reach,” said Gabby Roxas, marketing head of Google Philippines, in a Sept. 29 event organized by YouTube.

Incremental reach, as defined by Amazon Advertising, refers to the audience that a video campaign in OTT (direct-to-consumer streaming services) format engages that is in addition to a brand’s TV audience.

In the aforementioned event, Dennis Perez, media director of Unilever Philippines, shared that the consumer goods company was able to reach 16 million music lovers and 9 million movie buffs between December 2020 to June 2021 by utilizing sponsorable activities on YouTube.

“We’re entering an era where viewers are holding a hyper-remote control… and the choices are endless,” he said. He told the Sept. 29 audience that viewers consume content in line with what they need in their lives.

“The challenge is how to integrate your brand in a meaningful way,” Mr. Perez said. “How do you weave your brand’s story in terms of it not interfering, especially since viewers choose [what to consume] based on their passion.”

Unilever, he added, uses data to target different demographics and improve the quality of its reach.

“When we did a marketing mix modeling [a technique that quantifies the impact of marketing] on YouTube, we realized we got an incremental reach of more than 10%,” Mr. Perez said. “We were able to tap other markets, like the Gen Zs, as well as non-users of our brands.”

YouTube has reached over 45 million people in the Philippines aged 18 years old and above as of April. The video sharing website also saw a more than 25% rise in watch time from April 2020 to April 2021. Its creator ecosystem in the country is similarly thriving, with more than 3,000 creators and 250 channels having over 100,000 and one million subscribers, respectively.