First YouTube Works Awards in Hong Kong Celebrates Brilliant Creative Minds

HONG KONG, Nov. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- YouTube Hong Kong announces its first YouTube Works Awards winners to recognise and celebrate marketing campaigns that demonstrate creativity, outstanding results, and effectiveness. HSBC; TamJai SamGor, Vennic Limited; Mox Bank; and McDonald's Hong Kong are recognised for the most innovative and effective campaigns on YouTube in 2021.

Michael Yue, General Manager, Sales & Operations at Google Hong Kong, said, "It has been an incredible year for YouTube in Hong Kong that kicked off with the platform reaching 5.5 million people above the age of 18^[1]. We have seen brands lean into YouTube to connect and tell their stories in creative video formats. I'm proud of the creativity and resilience of Hong Kong marketers. This is the best time to celebrate all the outstanding YouTube campaigns, and recognise how creative digital content can drive equally powerful results."

Yue continued, "This year's winners, including HSBC; TamJai SamGor, Vennic Limited; Mox Bank; and McDonald's Hong Kong, deliver great lessons for the creative works of today and tomorrow. First, authentic storytelling will always sit at the centre of a great YouTube campaign. Second, leverage new formats and multiple creatives to excite and engage your customers. Third, partner with passionate creators whose enthusiasm and creativity can help your brand shine. Last but not least, build a full-funnel marketing strategy with YouTube to drive actions and impactful results."

In partnership with Kantar and supporting organisations including: Digital Marketing Community, iabHK, and The Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of Hong Kong, 31 judges from diverse backgrounds reviewed over 80 submissions to select YouTube Works Awards winners across seven categories.

2021 YouTube Works Awards winners in Hong Kong

HSBC (Campaign name: HSBC One Millennials Wealth Campaign – Say Goodbye to Wealth A0)

HSBC used YouTube as the platform to connect with young millennials and rejuvenate its brand image. Appointing Keung To from the city's popular boy band MIRROR as their Wealth A0 ambassador, the campaign related the young generation's love-inspired slang "A0" with the "Wealth A0" term to resonate with investment newbies. The campaign has made wealth planning content more approachable and accessible to younger audiences. Its full-funnel strategy with smart use of YouTube advertising solutions helps drive brand awareness and business results. The video achieved over 10 millions views on YouTube, lifted product awareness by 8.8%^[2] which is a historic high for HSBC One, and generated a 20% higher click-through rate for branded videos compared to previous HSBC One campaigns.

Suzanne Yeow, Head of Marketing, Wealth and Personal Banking, Hong Kong, HSBC, said, "To win the young millennials, you have to win both their hearts and minds. At HSBC, we did this by changing the conversation on investment, as we used their own lingo to connect with our campaign idea, casualised financial literacy through a group of KOLs they relate with and importantly, focused on education first to help them kick start their wealth journey. YouTube is a valuable partner that helps us change the way we deliver value to our customers."

"This was a fantastic showcase of YouTube capabilities, an eye-opening case from a media perspective, that demonstrated fantastic collaboration between the media and creative agencies," said Simone Tam, a YouTube Works Awards judge and CEO at dentsu international Hong Kong.

TamJai SamGor, Vennic Limited (Campaign name: There's No Taste Like Home)

TamJai SamGor was on a critical mission to stretch their noodles to create positive brand love and be the top-of-mind restaurant for the Hong Kong people. The idea of "A Taste of Memories" featured a tear jerking film connecting TamJai's iconic taste with moments that matter. Starring popular YouTube creator Ping, along with heartthrob Ian Chan from the city's popular boy band MIRROR, the video campaign was able to capture the heart of the young generation. Coupled with a full-funnel strategy and use of long-form video format, TamJai SamGor saw 50% YoY sales growth and became No.1 Quick Service Restaurant in terms of brand love.

Daren Lau, CEO of TamJai SamGor, Vennic Limited, said, "The campaign 'There's no taste like home' showcases how local-driven strategy and creativity can work hand in hand together to drive not only great communication itself, but also greatly significant business impact."

"The story elevates the brand with strong emotional connection and the campaign was able to build local relevancy and awareness," said Eric Lui, a YouTube Works Awards judge and Brand General Manager at Fresh (LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics).

Mox Bank Limited (Campaign name: "Because the World is Changing" Mini Series)

With the concept of "the laggard and the early adopters", this YouTube campaign starring artist Joyce Cheng and award-winning movie director Johnnie To showed how Mox Bank Limited helped consumers create an all-in-one banking solution to achieve their finance goals on mobile. Leveraging the abundance of creative content, data insights, and sequencing capabilities on YouTube, the campaign with bitesize infotainment content grasped the audience's attention and generated 5.29 million views.

Haymans Fung, Chief Customer Officer, Mox Bank Limited, said, "As a virtual bank in Hong Kong, Mox truly values partnership. We share the same goal with our media and creative agencies, we work as a team, and we work very closely to deliver relevant, inspirational and enjoyable work to our customers."

"A tailored campaign for YouTube with customised creatives and easy content for the audience to follow," said Phyllis Ma, a YouTube Works Awards judge and Head of Customer Engagement, Hong Kong Disneyland.

McDonald's Hong Kong (Campaign name: Smiling Boris One Day Barista)

To reintroduce McCafé as a youthful and fun go-to place for the millennials and Gen Z, McDonald's Hong Kong worked with popular YouTube creator SmilingBoris to boost its presence among younger audiences.

Tina Chao, Chief Marketing and Digital Experience Officer, McDonald's Hong Kong, said, "We are super proud of this McCafé campaign where we work with SmilingBoris to be our one-day barista. Through this collaboration, McCafé was able to communicate with millennials and Gen Z on a personal level and captivate their minds."

"This is a good demonstration of marrying brand, product and user experience," said Tom Kao, a YouTube Works Awards judge and the CEO Hong Kong of Publicis Groupe.

Watch the YouTube Works Awards show (YouTube link), specially hosted by Hong Kong talented creator J Lou, plus a performance by artist Joyce Cheng. Find out more about YouTube Works Awards.

APPENDIX

YouTube Works Awards Categories

Impact from Insight

• Celebrating the campaign that best demonstrates the use of insights to power the creative use of the YouTube platform.

Better Together

• Celebrating the campaign that best demonstrates the most strategic example of agencies working together to merge media and creative in an innovative and effective way to break through. It is about brilliant creative execution meeting innovative media planning.

Action Driver

• The world of video platforms has moved beyond brand awareness and into the age of 'attentive view equals action'. The award celebrates the campaign that best demonstrates how YouTube was used to drive customers to action in decision making moments by tapping into the power of video, and thus lead the industry by example. The submission should demonstrate a coherent strategy through all stages: from setting objectives and building creatives, to executing and measuring campaign results on a real time basis.

Best Collaboration: Brand & Creator

• Celebrating the best strategic and creative collaboration between brands and YouTube Creators that ultimately drive incredible social buzz and positive brand associations. By riding on a Creator's wave of avid followers and creating meaningful brand integration, brands can evolve and have more authentic conversations with its audience. Here, we're looking for campaigns that have mastered this art of collaboration. Both organic and paid campaigns are eligible for this award.

Best Breakthrough Advertiser

• YouTube is not just for big players, or veterans of the digital world. We have witnessed how brands onboarding with digital less than a year could rock a campaign sky high and embrace the spirit of experiment and innovation. This award goes out to the ones who just started their video journey and yet still achieve significant results.

Best Brand Campaign

• Entry that best demonstrates how YouTube was used to drive awareness, recall, and impact to keep brands top of mind (e.g., ad recall lift, awareness lift, impressions, unique reach, etc.).

Grand Prix

• Celebrating the campaign that best demonstrates the most effective, creative, innovative and data-driven work with demonstrable business results. The Grand Prix is the grandaddy of our prizes, and is awarded to the campaign entry that particularly stands out in multiple ways. This isn't a category you can enter, but it is a category you can hope to win if you can show that your campaign ticks all of the boxes.