Savvy digital advertisers in APAC are bridging the gap between performance/direct response marketing and branding campaigns. Now that metrics can be tracked across all channels, online players like Expedia.com are seeing the value and possibilities in strengthening their brands while driving clicks and sales. Expedia’s recent YouTube campaign in Singapore led to increases in brand awareness, purchase intent, and shoppers.
GOALS
Boost brand awareness in Singapore
Boost purchase intent in Singapore
APPROACH
Created a video ad campaign with YouTube’s TrueView
Used in-market targeting and remarketing
RESULTS
Nearly 15% lift in brand awareness
Nearly 15% lift in purchase intent
Over 25% lift in number of shoppers
Expedia offers travelers a wide selection of hotels, flights, activities, and travel services at attractive rates. With hundreds of thousands of hotel partners worldwide and comprehensive choices of flight rates and availabilities readily available on Expedia, travelers can find everything they need for their travels.
The global brand wanted to make a splash with its offering in Singapore; the challenge was finding a platform and a campaign that could raise both awareness and purchase intent—no small feat.
Reaching Singaporeans far and wide with YouTube’s TrueView
After reviewing its media options, the team at Expedia landed on YouTube’s TrueView as the best platform to reach a large audience and move the needle on brand metrics in Singapore. Not only is YouTube’s reach comparable to TV’s in Singapore's,1 its in-market targeting parameters overlapped nicely with Expedia’s target audience.
"YouTube is a great platform for brands in Singapore. We increased our reach significantly, and we drove some of our highest business results for a media campaign so far by adding YouTube to the mix."
To make the most of the platform, Expedia decided to partner with a popular TV and YouTube personality in Singapore: Wang Lei Liang. “What a better way for a brand to resonate with a local audience than to target them where they hang out? At Expedia, we did that with YouTube, using a campaign featuring Wang Wei Liang, a well-known local celebrity, and the results were beyond our expectations,” said Kevin Olliver, Expedia brand’s APAC creative director.
Thanks to his appearances in Jack Neo’s movies, Liang appeals to Singaporeans of all ages and from all walks of life. Expedia saw King as a cheeky, fun, and down-to-earth character and they collaborated to create a series of funny and attention-grabbing ads.
Confident in the platform and the creative, Expedia decided to debut the first two weeks of the campaign exclusively on YouTube.
Moving the needle at each stage of the conversion funnel
Expedia’s bet with YouTube paid off big, seeing results all along consumers’ path to purchase. Using Brand Lift surveys, the company saw best-in-class increases in brand awareness (nearly 15% relative lift), purchase intent (nearly 15% relative lift), brand interest (nearly 45% relative lift), and product interest (nearly 45% relative lift). These results were among the top 25% of YouTube's brand lift campaigns run in the Travel vertical/industry in Singapore.2
“YouTube is a great platform for brands in Singapore. We increased our reach significantly and we drove some of our highest business results for a media campaign so far by adding YouTube to the mix,” said Simon Fiquet, managing director of Expedia Southeast Asia and India.
Brand metrics were just the half of it. The campaign’s 1.73M unique views also led to uplifts in branded searches (over 50%) and huge uplifts in business metrics, including an over 25% lift in shoppers.
YouTube was a rousing success across the board for Expedia in Singapore, and the brand now sees YouTube as a proven viable option for achieving awareness and performance goals at the same time.
