YouTube Works 2022 Awards: A look at winning brands & campaigns that aced YouTube Marketing

YouTube Works 2022 is a platform dedicated to celebrating path-breaking creative excellence work. The awards program showcases the integral role of YouTube in marketing in this digital age.

Video advertising has come a long way in the last few years, and YouTube as a platform has played an integral role in this. Consumers have been flocking to the platform to not only consume video content but also interact with the diversity that the platform offers. 

Building brand awareness, creating content for commerce avenues, and sometimes just entertaining with a good piece of content - YouTube marketing has come of age in India. An added layer of technology to content combined with YouTube’s democratized approach has led to brands creating some of their best work in the last year. 

Recognizing the milestone work done by brands on the platform, YouTube Works Awards celebrated some of the marquee campaigns that the industry has created. 9 select winners across 8 categories were shortlisted after immense deliberation and evaluation by a jury panel of 85 industry experts. 

Also Read: Google launches first Indian edition of YouTube Works awards

Grand Prix: Cadbury Celebrations X Ogilvy India x Wavemaker

Infusing modern technology with innovative storytelling, the Grand Prix winning campaign - by Mondelez, Ogilvy and Wavemaker - proved to be distinctive across parameters. Enabled through the geo-located targeting features of YouTube, the AI-based campaign created personalized video ads featuring Shahrukh Khan and used resources at Cadbury's disposal to promote local stores that do not dispense high media spends or do not have access to creative utilities. The 130K video ads generated garnered 60% higher engagement on YouTube and a 42% growth in traditional trade and sales of 33 M gift boxes. 

Media Innovation: Listerine X Blink Digital x Interactive Avenues

Johnson & Johnson, Blink Digital, and Interactive Avenues captured the accuracy of audience insights with media planning that aced audience targeting. The campaign leveraged the unique trait of YouTube being a robust search engine and coupled two insights - reaching consumers seeking health information and targeting the ones specifically looking for solutions to oral health problems. The campaign placed contextually relevant ads targeted to viewers actively looking for these solutions, resulting in 283.3+ M impressions, 69.68M reach, and 31.5M views.

Local Connection: Knorr X Mindshare India

Knorr and Mindshare India translated the authenticity of local cultural relevance into a campaign and penetrated a regional market- Tamil Nadu that has a peculiar lifestyle. The YouTube LIVE cook-along show 'Cook with MaKaPa', featuring celebrity chef Damu and YouTube influencer Mr. MaKaPa, garnered 9.1 M views and helped Knorr launch in Tamil Nadu with a 10% increase in repeat purchases.

Big Screen, Big Results: Cadbury Dairy Milk X Ogilvy India x Wavemaker

When an iconic ad etched into the minds of a demographic was reimagined by challenging stereotypes and showcased on YouTube-enabled TVs, the result was a flood of social interactions discussing this wave of nostalgia. The campaign by Mondelez, Ogilvy, and Wavemaker garnered 330+ M impressions in a month, 670K USD worth of earned media, and an 18% increase in sales.

Force For Good: HP India X Media Monks

Advanced contextual targeting capabilities of the YouTube platform created a social pursuit for HP India’s ‘Diya Se Diya Jalao’ campaign that earned 37L worth of earned media, increasing brand trust by 14%, with 15+ M views and 40+ M reach. In addition to the metrics, the campaign amplified the communal sense of belonging and inspired the viewers to stand united during tough times.

Long-Form Storytelling: Cottonking X Fifth Estate

The long-format nature of storytelling enabled by YouTube allows brands and agencies to engage the audience with stories chalked out on a broader canvas. Cottonking achieved this objective and expanded its reach to a new customer base by championing women in a targeted demographic through a long-form campaign, gaining 8+ M views, and increasing store visits from women by 25%.

6-Seconds Storytelling: Perk X Ogilvy India x Wavemaker

While short-format videos work wonders on YouTube, it can be rather challenging to get your point across within seconds. But once again, Mondelez, Ogilvy, and Wavemaker managed to ace the 6-second storytelling format with a quirky mix of trending moments and brand integration with only a campaign tagline. 2.5 M videos with personalized messages generated 500k USD worth of earned media, with 84+ M views, 635+ M impressions, and a 20% increase in sales.

Brand X Creators: Amazon Alexa X Interactive Avenues

Amazon Alexa created a digital chat show, ‘Social Media Star with Janice’, in collaboration with the popular YouTube creator - Janice Sequeira, to promote the product as a part of the content property. With seamless brand integration, the campaign highlighted the light-hearted side of the helpful voice assistant, and the collaboration resulted in intended reach & engagement every time the episode went live. The integrated season gained Alexa 25+ M views and 400+ M impressions organically, 4X more than expected, making Alexa the most preferred choice in its category.

The creative and media mavericks of the Indian marketing ecosystem were recognized and applauded at YouTube Works 2022 Awards for mapping the dramatic transformations of consumer inclinations and producing campaigns that effectively used YouTube’s advertising capabilities, equipped to reach the masses and target effectively.