Chevy Sonic Firsts Campaign Leveraged YouTube to Engage Millennials

Published in Google Think.

Chevrolet launched a series of YouTube videos for the Chevy Sonic "Firsts" campaign, supported by a full suite of YouTube & Google ads. They saw a net increase in subscribers on their YouTube channel, as well as increased brand lift and consideration. The Sonic became the best-selling sub-compact car in the US. Later, Chevrolet also retargeted its “Skydive” video against Red Bull’s “Stratos” video, leading to 9.7 million impressions, over 80,000 clicks, and a 93% standard in-stream video completion rate.

THE GOALS

• Build awareness and consideration amongst millennials born after 1980
• Drive consumer engagement

THE APPROACH

• Created series of made-for-digital videos as part of integrated campaign
• Used all TrueView ads formats, standard in-stream, YouTube homepage masthead, YouTube mobile roadblock, and the Google Display Network
• Retargeted the Sonic Stunts "Skydive" video against Red Bull's "Stratos" live event video on YouTube, using standard in-stream

THE RESULTS

• Increased brand lift and consideration within the target audience; Chevy Sonic became the best-selling sub-compact car in the US
• Positive net change in subscribers on YouTube channel, one of the biggest increases in months
• Skydive video targeted against Red Bull's Stratos led to 9.7 million impressions, over 80,000 clicks, and a 93% standard in-stream video completion rate