Background

As the world awoke to a deadly new virus COVID-19 in January 2020, countless deaths had been recorded. COVID took its toll on both the healthcare sector and the global economy. Thanks to the tireless work of heroes from healthcare to logistic workers who kept the city moving and managed to maintain the normal level of lives for all, Taiwan’s team of 23 million was able to tame the pandemic early on. Google wanted to play its part in giving thanks to these heroes. Harnessing YouTube’s brand belief that “Everyone has the right to speak up”, and “When we listen, share, and build communities through our own stories, the world will become a better place”, we decided to launch the “#GiveThanksWithMe” campaign. The idea was simple – unite YouTube’s brand power with the influence of YouTube Creators to deliver the ultimate creative thank you to Taiwan’s heroes.

Describe the strategy

YouTube looked to create the ultimate mash-up by inviting Taiwan’s top influencers to work together to find a creative way to say thank you to frontline workers and spread this campaign to reach all audiences across Taiwan as the target market. YouTube knows that more often than not, the best ideas are borne by the YouTube Creators themselves, rather than briefs given to them. Their never-ending stream of ideas and unique ways to communicate with fans serves as inspiration. So, YouTube took a different approach. Rather than sharing a detailed and thorough brief with YouTube Creators, YouTube gave the creators shared just one guideline - ‘Find a way to show your appreciation on YouTube’.

Describe the execution

Google firstly engaged with YouTube Creators by sharing the campaign spirit and idea - to say thank you to Taiwan’s frontline workers. The communication touched on what we have been through together during this tough time, citing several behind-the-scenes heroes to inspire their creation, closing with a call-to-action of joining the movement by showing appreciation in their own way on YouTube, albeit without any rules or limitations. Once the videos had been created, YouTube pushed the Creators’ videos with on-platform placements including masthead ads and video shelfs (see below example), driving their visibility, while creating the ultimate #GiveThanksWithMe playlist to maximize the campaign influence. Finally, YouTube stitched together all of the work to create the #GiveThanksWithMe mashup video, pushing it with masthead ads to reach all audiences across Taiwan. Overnight, YouTube managed the impossible – bringing together more than 30 independent creators of different genres to say thank you.

List the results

The hashtag became so popular that 5 of the original videos amassed over 100K views. In addition, YouTube’s mashup video was celebrated Taiwan-wide, receiving over 2.9M views and 88.4 million impressions, going on to win YouTube Taiwan’s most successful advert video award. YouTube was able to ensure that Taiwan’s COVID heroes received their overdue thanks, cementing its role as a responsible, influential, and caring member of society.