“The new primetime is personal.”
This was essentially the theme of the first-ever YouTube Brandcast event in the Philippines — where the latest insights, platform growth updates, and opportunities for content creators, businesses and media partners were discussed and shed light into.
According to Vishal Sarin — director of YouTube content partnerships for Southeast Asia — they see the Philippines as a key market and expects exponential growth of both in audience and content creators. Indeed, the platform has also been harnessed by brands who want to reach their target audience in the digital era.
“As we are committed to the Philippines, we plan to further grow the YouTube ecosystem by forging more local partnerships and developing creators outside of Metro Manila,” said Sarin. “We have only one way to go and that’s up. There is a lot of room to grow.”
Sarin mentioned that their growth increased exponentially with Smart Communications as a key partner. Just last year, the telco unveiled the “Free YouTube Everyday” program that provided Filipinos with a free hour of access to the video-sharing platform.
Alongside the increase in traffic from viewers who were glued to their desired content, Smart’s mobile data usage grew more than twice year over year and the service revenues from mobile data skyrocketed up by 62%.
Oscar Reyes, SVP and head of consumer market development at PLDT-Smart, explained that YouTube has enabled the company to grow its business while simultaneously connecting more Filipinos to relevant and useful videos that create meaningful impact to their lives. “At Smart, we strive to empower every Filipino through digital innovations that can uplift their lives,” he said.
In the country alone, between 2016 and 2019, YouTube witnessed an increase in the inception of creator channels that were reaching more than 100,000 subscribers with more than 750 while more than a million subscribers are following over 20 media channels.
Cebu Pacific was also presented as an example for brands whose digital media strategy utilized the YouTube platform in driving business results. During their month-long anniversary campaign, Cebu Pacific saw their number of booked flights triple.
According to Cebu Pacific VP for marketing distribution Candice Iyog, consumers who booked flights during their “3.3” campaign grew thrice compared to their last major seat sale.
“YouTube plays an important role in our omnichannel strategy. In the recent Super Seat Fest 3.3 Sale campaign, we reached over 20 million Filipinos and Cebu Pacific became the most searched brand during the campaign period,” Iyog shared.
