Pepsi with OMD and Procter & Gamble with Starcom MediaVest Group have signed a deal with Google to access the most popular and engaging channels on YouTube during the month of Ramadan. The agreement will see a variety of P&G brands and Pepsi exclusively sponsor up to 275 category-specific channels that include TV series, comedy, cooking, lifestyle, gaming and other content relevant to this month.
The giant search engine launched Google Preferred which allows media agencies to access its audiences and track the channels they frequently access. This is done by Google’s ‘Preference score’ algorithm that surfaces and ranks the channels that are among the top 5% of all YouTube channels. The score accounts for watch-time as well as engagement metrics like number of subscribers, likes, comments and shares.
“Across multiple countries, we have heard from brands who want to better understand what content they are buying their advertising against. We also heard from creators who want to be rewarded for creating engaging content, as well as the consumer who showed more willingness to engage with brands featured on their favorite channels. That’s where Google Preferred comes in. This offering will enable us to have conversations with agencies and marketers that we would not have had before,” commented Rayan Karaky, Google Preferred trading lead, MENA.
After being in US, UK, France and Germany, Google Preferred is now available in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
“The exponential growth of YouTube viewership and the increasing loyalty of audiences to top channels make the platform essential to our consumer engagement and content distribution strategy. With Google Preferred we are now able to distribute our brand content across screens, at scale, with an increased focus on the best creators,” Dani Afiouni, Regional Director of Consumer Engagement, PepsiCo Middle East and Africa.
According to the Consumer Barometer, the number of hours people in MENA spend on YouTube every month is growing 50 percent year on year with upto 65 percent and 55 percent of views coming from KSA and UAE respectively.
“The growth of YouTube, especially with the Middle East’s younger audiences, and the rise of regional content creators has resulted in a platform through which advertisers can engage effectively with consumers. Through Google Preferred we will be connecting with the most popular and relevant YouTube channels in the region while supporting the most popular Arab content creators,” shared Sami Ahmed, Marketing Director, Arabian Peninsula & Pakistan, Procter & Gamble.
