Converse With Your Users, and all Else Will Follow – Part Two

This post is the second of a series highlighting the inspiration and execution behind some of the more innovative and successful custom advertising programs on YouTube. See the first part of the series here. -Ed.

While LVCVA’s “Vegas Bound” campaign had its unique strengths, a great campaign with a strong user and community element doesn’t always have to be a full-fledged brand channel. Recently Volvo and Sprint ran two very successful campaigns that promoted product information, incorporated an interactive game and social media, and compiled user-generated content into a dazzling montage -- all within a single homepage masthead unit.

Lesson #2: Showcase Users’ Contributions

For the launch of the XC60, Volvo’s first crossover vehicle, Volvo took over the YouTube homepage with a rich media unit that housed videos, photos, and a game that showcased the vehicle’s unique City Safety feature. Best of all, the unit incorporated a dynamic Twitter feed that highlighted user feedback upon seeing or test-driving the vehicle at the New York Auto Show. By broadcasting these tweets, Volvo’s masthead allowed auto-enthusiasts and XC60 fans to share their thoughts with YouTube's large audience.

Campaign developed by Volvo, Euro RSCG Worldwide, MediaContacts

This campaign was groundbreaking in that it was one of the first advertisers to take over the YouTube homepage with an expandable masthead ad, and the masthead was the first to feature a Twitter integration. Within the course of 24 hours, the masthead garnered 38 million impressions, 17,000 hours of brand engagement and an 8.66% interaction rate, which is nearly double the advertising industry's benchmark. Along with LVCVA’s “Vegas Bound” campaign, the Volvo XC60 Masthead also won an OMMA Award this year for the best Integrated Online Campaign in the Automotive category, great recognition for an ad that was informative and entertaining and promoted the brand’s social presence.

Another great example of an advertiser showcasing user engagement within a single ad unit is Sprint’s “Now Network” homepage masthead. The premise of the idea revolved around a digital “human clock” composed of user-generated visualizations of each number.

Campaign developed by Sprint, Goodby Silverstein & Partners

This masthead unit exemplified collaboration, with the end goal of providing users the current time albeit with a surprising aesthetic in the human digital clock. Most importantly, it quickly transported users from their home cameras to the homepage, providing users with instant gratification and demonstrating the product’s advertised speed.

Here’s how it worked: The masthead granted a number to all users who wanted to participate, who were allowed to visualize this number in their own unique ways. Some users scrawled the numbers on a sheet of paper and held them up to the camera, many used their fingers, and others used images. Then, the numbers were mixed and matched to form a “human clock” within the masthead unit.

As time passed and entries flooded in, the user-generated videos changed in response. The limitations were only the audience’s imagination, and just about anyone with a computer and a camera could submit an entry using the webcam gadget within the ad unit itself. The barriers to entry were low, and the reward for participation was high, as participants could earn a chance to be a part of a “human clock” right on the YouTube homepage and seen by millions of people.

Sprint’s “Now Network” campaign took home a Gold Lion at the 56^th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival as the top Integrated Campaign this year, as well as four Silver Lions and a Bronze Lion in the Digital Category.

The success of Volvo and Sprint’s homepage ads prove that a combination of creativity and rich media technology can allow a campaign to be both thorough and succinct, as long as it speaks to its users and allows them to speak back.

Posted by Jane Yu, Sales Development