MANILA – Only the great ads can make an impression on today’s digital audiences. As more of the Philippine market enter the digital space, marketers face an increasingly competitive arena that puts a premium on originality, the power of sight and sound, and, above all, creativity that deserves its own spot on the screen.
YouTube celebrates this evolution of creative storytelling on digital video, by honoring some of the best advertising on the platform in the YouTube Ads Awards slated in May. After receiving entries from various industries, the awards officially starts the screening for 17 available titles.
Six renowned storytellers and digital leaders take their seat on the judges’ panel and weigh on the submissions. Judge chair and MullenLowe Philippines President and Chief Creative Officer Leigh Reyes expresses her optimism for the YouTube Ads Awards’ first run. “I’m really impressed and gratified in the number of entries. I’m glad that people are confident in their work enough to enter the YouTube Ads Awards.”
According to Leigh, the Filipino experience and work put in by marketers are very much pronounced in the entries, and she and the rest of the panel look forward to being surprised by the top finalists.
What makes digital ads “great”
The YouTube Ads Awards zeroes in on one of the major challenges to this age’s brand storytellers: to forge content that the online audience would appreciate, value, and choose to watch. Acknowledging the consumers’ power to minimize and switch screens, the awards celebrate branded content that can be enjoyed alongside the viewers’ usual supply of entertainment.
“(What merits the YouTube Ads Awards is) an ad that’s worth the delay in getting to the video I actually came to YouTube to watch,” explains Leigh. Extending years of insight in the advertising business, Leigh points out what ads should aim towards: “For video-based ads, those that qualify as entertainment in themselves. If it’s a narrative, it needs characters that viewers can care about and whose outcomes they become emotionally invested in even in just 60 seconds or less. If it’s expository or explanatory, then it has to be visually intriguing and satisfying, leaving the viewer feeling smarter after.”
Another YouTube Ads Awards judge and seasoned advertising head, McCann Worldgroup Executive Creative Director Joe Dy, seconds this. “For me, when a digital ad is more engaging that it competes with best non-advertising content for share of heart, that’s (what makes it) ‘great’.”
Also joining the esteemed panel are influential names on the media, Lourd de Veyra and Mikey Bustos. Three-time Palanca Awardee and host Lourd applies his literary acumen and knowledge of popular content to identify the winning digital narratives. “I’m one of those people who press ‘skip ad’ the very first second. That’s why YouTube ads should first be of arresting nature that makes it an inevitable watch.” He adds that winning entries should be conscious of the digital experience, from audibility to the possibility of repeated viewings.
Creator and digital influencer Mikey Bustos, meanwhile, seeks out the shareability component in the pool of entries. “For me, ads that cause people to decide to share the content deserve the award. Sharing, after all, is the new ‘like’ button.”
Two brand captains bring in their marketing experience to the YouTube Ads Awards panel. Unilever Philippines Head of Media Dennis Perez and Cebu Pacific Air Vice President for Marketing and Distribution Candice Iyog offer their insights and expertise. Candice, who has steered the airline to its current altitude, explains what she considers a must for online advertisements. “Most of the time, I find that great digital ad is something that triggers you emotionally–it makes you angry, joyful, sad, fearful, excited and moves you to share or watch it again.”
In recent years, YouTube has become a seedbed of ads that explore new narrative formats and the popularity of videos. It has awarded top ad performers in the bi-annual YouTube Ads Leaderboard. This time, the platform lauds the most outstanding works of brand storytelling presented by major industries and produced in format-specific categories. Watch out for the names that make it to the first YouTube Ads Awards in the Philippines.
Judge chair Leigh highlights the value of fueling creative work, “Great storytelling deserves recognition. Digital marketers who join the YouTube Ads Awards not only stand to gain this, but can also help uplift the quality of Philippine digital advertising as a whole.”
Click here, here, and here for previous adobo stories on the YouTube Ads Awards 2017.
