The new primetime is personal. This was the main takeaway from YouTube Philippines‘ first-ever Brandcast event in the country where they shared new insights, platform growth, and opportunities for brands, businesses and media partners.
With the democratization of technology and the constantly increasing number of people with access to the internet, Filipino YouTube viewers are now customizing their viewing experiences, and watching more videos that are tailored to their personal interests, passions, and current needs.
Based on their data, Filipino viewership on YouTube remains consistent throughout the day resulting in the disappearance of the “primetime hours” viewing habits. Not surprisingly, among the most-watched videos Pinoys consume fall under the categories of entertainment, music, and lifestyle. However, other popular topics include online gaming as well as how-to videos. Said to be peculiar to our market as supposed to other countries in the region is that we consume both locally produced content, as well as those made abroad.
“The Philippines is an important market for YouTube. Over the years, we have seen an immense growth not only in the number of people watching videos but also in creators starting their own channels and brands going digital to engage their consumers. 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,” shared Vishal Sarin, Director of YouTube Content Partnerships, Southeast Asia.
According to their data, the Philippines is one of the most vibrant and fastest-growing YouTube markets. From 2016 to 2019, the number of creator channels with more than 100,000 subscribers has grown 20-fold. There are presently over 750 channels with more than 100,000 subscribers. In three years since 2016, the number of media channels with more than one million subscribers has increased by 10 times. Now, there are over 20 media channels with more than one million subscribers.
(L to R) : Smart Head of Entertainment Product Management Gerard Milan; Cebu Pacific Corporate Communications Director Rosario Lagamon; YouTube Content Partnerships Country Lead Pablo Mendoza; Denise Gamo-Halagueña of Google Philippines Ads and Agency Marketing; PLDT-Smart Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Market Development Oscar Reyes; Director of YouTube Content Partnerships for Southeast Asia Vishal Sarin; Cebu Pacific Vice President for Marketing and Distribution Candice Iyog; and Google Philippines Communications and Public Affairs Manager Mervin Wenke. | Photo by Charlie A. Cruz
Realworld results
Present to share their experience with YouTube were Oscar A. Reyes, Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Market Development at PLDT and Smart, and Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific Vice President for Marketing and Distribution. Each prepared short presentations on how they used YouTube to achieve quantifiable results.
Smart Communications is one of YouTube’s key partners in the Philippines. In 2018, Smart launched the Free YouTube Every Day program, providing one hour of free YouTube access daily for its mobile prepaid subscribers enrolled in their packages. Since then, more Filipinos have been able to access the internet as well as enjoy the content they love on YouTube. As a result of the program, Smart’s mobile data usage grew more than twice year-on-year and service revenues from mobile data increased by 62%.
“At Smart, we strive to empower every Filipino through digital innovations that can uplift their lives. Partnering with YouTube enabled us to grow our business and at the same time connect more Pinoys to relevant and useful videos every day, creating meaningful impact to the lives of our customers,” said Reyes.
Iyog, on the other hand, presented how Cebu Pacific effectively uses digital media to drive business results. When it launched its month-long anniversary campaign earlier this year, the company used YouTube to engage its target market and saw three times growth in the number of booked flights.
“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. Most of all, consumers who booked flights during the 3.3 campaign grew thrice compared to our last major seat sale,” shared Iyog.
Broadcast media such as ABS-CBN, GMA Network, and WishFM are using YouTube to reach more audiences, especially in the cross-screen world today. These media partners showcase an effective strategy to address their audience’s ever-changing needs by placing some of their key entertainment and music content on YouTube. Notably, ABS-CBN and GMA with more than 10 million subscribers each are part of the top 50 YouTube channels being watched globally and are both recipients of the Diamond Creator Award. In Southeast Asia, there are only 5 broadcast media that are recipients of the Diamond Creator Award and two are from the Philippines.