Hotpoint and Jamie Oliver use TrueView and Google Preferred to connect with YouTube’s passionate audience of foodies.
Case study summary
• Hotpoint collaborated with Jamie Oliver’s FoodTube on a series of videos designed to change perceptions
• Working with guest chefs from the YouTube creator community, the campaign consisted of a 21 episode series called #LoveYourKitchen,
• In total, the TrueView elements of the campaign received 3.9m views and generated 29k clicks, at an average Cost per View of just £0.05.
The challenge
Long trusted as creators of reliable kitchen appliances, Hotpoint recently began looking for ways to make consumers more aware of their products’ cutting-edge technology and sense of style. To redress this imbalance, they collaborated with Jamie Oliver’s FoodTube on a series of videos designed to change perceptions, and promote the brand with YouTube’s huge community of food fans.
The solution
Working with guest chefs from the YouTube creator community, the campaign consisted of a 21 episode series called #LoveYourKitchen, featuring recipe videos from the likes of DJ BBQ and Cupcake Jemma. Recipes were informed by YouTube and Google data, which was used to identify hot trends and seasonal ingredient keywords, maximising relevance and audience appeal. The videos were filmed in the FoodTube kitchen using the latest equipment, taking advantage of YouTube’s new 4k resolution format. Content was subtly branded to avoid an excessive, ‘advertorial’ feel, with title cards indicating Hotpoint’s sponsorship. The Hotpoint products used by the chefs in each video were given appropriate placement and commentary throughout the footage, but in general the videos took a casual approach to branding, in line with this savvy audience’s expectations.
The campaign creative was served as TrueView ad units using a range of targeting methods. The TrueView format offers maximum control to viewers and drives maximum engagement for advertisers, especially when coupled with the right targeting. In order to ensure broad coverage and placement against premium content, Hotpoint also made use of Google Preferred, which allows advertisers to access some of YouTube’s most popular channels, separated into simple thematic bundles.
The results
In total, the TrueView elements of the campaign received 3.9m views and generated 29k clicks, at an average Cost per View of just £0.05. Several targeting methods were utilised, with Interest and Topic targeting achieving View Through Rates (VTR) of around 20%, while remarketing to users who had watched previous videos yielded the highest VTR at almost 23%. The Google Preferred component of the campaign achieved similarly positive results, with over 9m impressions, viewability of just under 92% (comparing favourably with an industry average of only 51%), and a Video Completion Rate of 80%.
Audience surveys revealed that the campaign succeeded in shifting perceptions of the brand, with the impression of Hotpoint as ‘safe and dependable’ changing to ‘stylish and innovative’ after the launch of #LoveYourKitchen. Reflecting on the lessons from a complex campaign, Ian Moverley, Brand Communications Director at Whirlpool Corporation, highlighted the critical importance of data and optimization in creating engaging and impactful content: “The key learning for us was about adjusting creative as we saw results and direct consumer feedback.”
For Jenna Voyce, Director of Client Services at The Story Lab, the success of the campaign highlighted the importance of using deep understanding of the target audience to inform creative. "Working alongside Google for Hotpoint #LoveYourKitchen helped us deliver a rich, data-led campaign that used customer insights to inform the content developed and the media used. TrueView & Google Preferred together provided the kind of efficient and effective reach we were hoping to achieve, leading to a campaign that exceeded the client’s expectations and surpassed the goals they set for us."
