We tried promoting Philips' electric toothbrush on a talent's YouTube channel!

More companies are partnering with talent on YouTube channels for product tie-ins. What should they focus on to effectively promote their products?

This time, we report on a discussion among members involved in the production of Philips' electric toothbrush, the "Sonicare 9900 Prestige," covering the planning intent, talent selection, and their impressions of the implementation.

※This article is based on the content of a joint webinar held by FIREBUG and Dentsu Inc. in August 2021, written from the perspective of the Web Dentsu News editorial team.

 

Making the Product Stand Out Within Each Talent's Unique Worldview

FIREBUG (*1), which excels in producing talent YouTube channels, and Dentsu Inc., which has handled numerous advertisements in mass media. The two companies have teamed up to plan and produce product tie-ins on talent YouTube channels.

※1 FIREBUG: Primarily active in the digital sphere, offering a wide range of services including talent SNS consulting, content production/support, and artist production. Also provides multifaceted marketing solutions to companies centered around entertainment. Formed a business alliance with Dentsu Inc. in November 2020.

 

For the tie-up with Philips' electric toothbrush "Sonicare 9900 Prestige," they featured London Boots Ichi-go Ni-go's Atsushi Tamura and model Mikiko Yano.

"Ronbo Channel"
(Click the image to watch the video on the official YouTube channel)

On Mr. Tamura's "Ronbo Channel," the product was featured within a segment introducing his morning routine. Interviewer Hideki Morimoto of Nibunno Go! caught up with a sleepy Mr. Tamura without an appointment. The uploaded video shows them discussing the features and user experience of the toothbrush, including its linked app, occasionally punctuated with laughter.

"MIKKO CHANNEL"
(Click the image to watch the video on the official YouTube channel)

On Yano's "MIKKO CHANNEL," the "Sonicare 9900 Prestige" is featured as one of her 11 everyday beauty essentials. Beautiful visuals effectively showcase the product's design excellence. During usage scenes, unique benefits like not needing toothpaste and the sensor automatically adjusting brushing strength are subtly conveyed.

Notably, both videos feel refreshingly unadvertisement-like, with the products blending seamlessly into each YouTube channel's unique atmosphere. These videos were featured in online news, contributing to increased view counts.

What are the key points for product tie-ins on talent YouTube channels?

Following the video introductions, the webinar featured presentations by Eri Sakamoto and Kenta Isshiba from Dentsu Inc., who were involved in production, and Ryuzo Mizobuchi, an expert in influencer utilization. They discussed this project from various angles.

Planning YouTube tie-ups to drive awareness and purchase intent simultaneously

In the discussion, Kenta Ichiba first explained the intent behind planning the YouTube tie-in. "The 'Sonicare 9900 Prestige' is Philips' top-of-the-line model, priced at around 40,000 yen. The client's request was to drive strong sales at the launch timing. To meet this request, we selected a celebrity's YouTube channel as the media to promote the product."

He noted three key points unique to electric toothbrushes underpinning the campaign:

First, electric toothbrushes aren't products people buy just because they recognize them. "Few people have concerns about their toothbrushes, so it's rare for someone to casually buy a new electric toothbrush just because one is released. We kept in mind that electric toothbrushes aren't everyday items; they're purchased driven by desires like wanting whiter teeth, maintaining oral health, or becoming more attractive."

Second, people rarely spend time thinking about electric toothbrushes in their daily lives. "That's precisely why we felt it was essential to spark interest and drive the desire to buy right at the moment awareness was created."

Third, the electric toothbrush market is highly mature. "Competitors have excellent products from major clients. That's precisely why messages tend to get lost if manufacturers use the same appeals as others. For example, Philips has the strength of being 'No. 1 in dentist usage for 14 consecutive years.' We believed the penetration among consumers would be completely different if this was communicated by the manufacturer versus by a celebrity who actually uses the product."

After considering these unique points specific to electric toothbrushes, they concluded that a celebrity's YouTube channel could deliver a distinct appeal compared to competitors, making it easier to foster awareness and purchase intent. They then proposed this strategy to the client.

We were able to secure a well-known talent who fit the product's worldview at a lower cost than TV commercials.

Next, Mr. Ichiba explained the selection of the talent.

"One reason we chose Ms. Tamura was that her YouTube channel features many health-related videos, making her highly compatible with electric toothbrushes. Additionally, she deeply understands and uses the product. I was very impressed when she mentioned in a previous webinar, 'I only introduce things I genuinely believe in.' We felt she could authentically convey a third-party perspective. Furthermore, when promoting a product costing around 40,000 yen, we believed she perfectly matched the client's request to 'engage a high-level talent active on the front lines.'"

The product was intended for both men and women, so Tamura was assigned to target male consumers and Yano to target female consumers. Regarding Yano's casting, her stylish aesthetic was also seen as a good fit for promoting the product's sleek design.

The talent's fee was also a significant factor in the selection. "Using talent in TV commercials tends to be expensive. While the individuals we hired this time are popular and well-known, YouTube offers the potential to secure them at a lower cost than TV commercials, so we decided to try it. We were very surprised that we could actually secure them at this price."

Regarding the casting of the two talents, Mr. Mizobuchi stated, "We proposed other talents to the client, but I believe they made a well-balanced choice. It was great that each person's unique personality shone through, resulting in completely different videos."

We set KPIs not only for product sales but also for reach to the product page and engagement metrics.

Mr. Ichiba discussed the KPIs set for promoting the product on the talent's YouTube channel.

"The client's primary metric is how many products are sold, so we implemented purchase tracking. However, for products like electric toothbrushes, many people don't buy immediately after watching a video; they tend to take the action of 'researching first.' Therefore, we also set KPIs for product page transitions and engagement metrics and tracked them.

Clients running TrueView ads on YouTube often assume that promoting on YouTube won't increase clicks to their product pages. However, celebrities with YouTube channels can directly reach their supportive fans, who actively seek out their videos. Furthermore, by prompting viewers in the video to 'check the description box,' a clear path is established where fans click on product URLs they find interesting. This creates a different performance dynamic compared to standard TrueView ads. When successful, tie-up videos can achieve click-through rates of 2-5%, and high-quality content can yield even higher numbers, potentially leading to sales."

※2 TrueView ads: Ads inserted before or during videos on platforms like YouTube.

Carefully aligning the client's requests with the talent's opinions is crucial.

At the end of the discussion, we exchanged opinions on the challenges encountered when implementing the project.

Sakamoto stated, "It was challenging to integrate the appeal and key points of the client's product within the talent's YouTube channel's unique world. Talents often resist being asked to promote points that clash with their personal image or channel's established world. Finding the right balance and compromise between the client's and talent's non-negotiable points was difficult."

In response to this comment, Mr. Ichiba emphasized the importance of meticulous process steps: "That level of dedication and passion from both the company and the talent is crucial for creating videos. For example, Ms. Yano personally participated from the video production orientation stage, asking enthusiastic questions about the plan. She only gave her approval after actually using the product and genuinely liking it. I believe the high-quality video was possible precisely because she truly felt it was a great product."

This webinar introduced the latest case studies of product tie-ups with talent YouTube channels and the insights behind them. It demonstrated that thoroughly considering "who communicates the product's merits and how" enables appeals that resonate deeply with viewers. Simultaneously, it highlighted the significant potential of leveraging talent YouTube channels.

Next time, we'll report on a session from this webinar focused on "Building Fan Communities for Companies and Products Using Broadcast TV"!