MANILA – After what some would call a near-eternity outside the list, Jollibee made a triumphant return to the YouTube Ads Leaderboard recently. And the fastfood giant didn’t just land one ad in the Top 10, they were actually able to place two ads on the list. These are ‘Kwentong Jollibee: Kahera’ at eighth and ‘Bunso’ right behind it in ninth place.
The last time Jollibee landed in the Top 10 was in the second half of 2015 for ‘The Voice Kids: I Love You Sabado,’ which earned seventh place.
“Our objective is to be able to produce engaging content, one that people would be happy to view over and over again as it makes them feel good and share with their families and friends,” says Francis Flores, Chief Marketing Officer of Jollibee Global at Jollibee Foods Corp.
On being able to place two distinct ads in the Top 10, Flores notes that, “The two campaigns have a different campaign objective so a different strat and thought process went into each. ‘Kahera’ was part of the Kwentong Jollibee series thus it was based on a true story and we had to keep it authentic. It aims to pay tribute to our fiercest supporters and number one fan — our grandparents who demonstrate tireless love and support in every stage of our lives.”
“’Bunso’ was a more product-driven campaign with a highly relevant emotional context; it reminded them about the importance of face-to-face family connection,” Flores adds. “Both ads spoke to families about joy of family and how Jollibee and its products can enhance that, but with different context and hook.”
While ‘Bunso’ used the Apo Hiking Society classic “Ewan” as part of the story of the little girl, ‘Kahera’ noticably doesn’t. “You don’t always need a catchy jingle for all your campaigns as execution varies (and it depends on how you think you can best send your message across),” shares Flores.
“For ‘Kwentong Jollibee: Kahera,’ a huge factor why it became viral is the highly relatable material,” Flores points out. “The story arc with a combination of humorous scenes and an unexpected twist, and the fact that it touched on a subject that Filipinos have a soft spot for: the love and support of our grandmothers.”
“In the case of ‘Bunso.’ the jingle helped drive the message of the ad in a more compelling and memorable way, contributing to the video’s shareability,” he says.
As more and more local brands and companies take their campaigns online, Flores notes what many marketers and advertisers have seen as a kind of freedom that platforms like YouTube give them compared to traditional media. “We have more liberty to tell the story in full online since there are no time limitations,” Flores bares. “But the basic principle of hinging our campaign on a strong insight or a powerful truth applies to both.”
With Jollibee aggressively leveraging on the freedom that YouTube and similar video platforms online provide, don’t be surprised if this marks just the first in many returns by the leading fastfood chain in the biannual YouTube Ads Leaderboard.
