To demonstrate the effectiveness of innovative marketing solutions on purchase behavior, we conducted a study with a major video game client who ran a YouTube campaign during the 2008 holiday season. The client had released a popular franchise game in fall 2008, and had four primary goals: sell games during the holidays, drive traffic to branded sites, drive engagement with branded content online, and drive online buzz and consumer interest in the game.
In order to achieve these goals, the client executed seven YouTube homepage takeovers, a branded channel, and supporting media. We measured the impact by analyzing Compete, Inc. click stream data and Dynamic Logic survey data for test users (those exposed to the campaign) and control users (those not exposed to the campaign).
We found some encouraging results:
- Ad exposure increased game purchases. There was a 29% lift in game sales over 6-week 2008 holiday period.
- Campaign boosted searches on branded terms. We found a 3.6x increase in searches, with 5.4x jump on Google, and 5.3x on YouTube.
- Ad exposure increased online engagement. The test results also showed an 11.8x increase in video views, 4.6x jump in channel visits, and 3.9x more official site views.
- Clear brand lift associated with campaign. Test users showed a 14% lift in aided brand awareness, with a 19% lift among active gamers, and an 18% lift among game purchasers
- High frequency of ad exposure led to strong brand lift. We found a 27% lift in brand awareness resulting from ten or more exposures.
For more details on the Google tools that can help you build a compelling display campaign, visit the Agency Toolkit, a one-stop-shop for relevant products, and Google for Advertisers, your hub for Google's marketing solutions, including all your options for advertising on YouTube.
