Behind the work: How Isobar leveraged Google’s latest ad tool for Buick

Isobar led Buick to be the first U.S. Automaker to utilize Google’s advertising beta tool, Director Mix in a comprehensive national campaign. We spoke to Isobar U.S’ Buick account lead and creative director, Phillip Gross and Zach DeBord to learn more.

Is this the first time Isobar has worked with Buick?

Phillip: Isobar is General Motors’ in-market digital agency and, as such, we’re proud of our long-lasting partnership with the Buick brand. We’ve delivered highly engaging digital display work for Buick in the past, but this is the first time we have had the opportunity to work with Buick in this capacity, becoming the first automaker to use Google’s Director Mix tool. We are looking to leverage the learnings from this campaign on the effectiveness of dynamic in-market video and continue to innovate with Buick and GM.

What was Buick’s strategy for this work?

Phillip: The strategy behind the campaign was to connect with potential auto buyers on YouTube by creatively showcasing key Buick Regal features and benefits that aligned with the consumer’s interests. We targeted in-market shoppers using defined vehicle segments, in combination with audience affinities provided by Google, to deliver contextually relevant pre-roll videos while shoppers are engaging with YouTube.

What was the creative idea behind the work?

Zach: We focused on how a Buick Regal can enhance a drive, a day or a weekend with a contextual message that would resonate with various consumer affinities. Because our ads run as pre-roll video, we knew that we needed to be pithy and concise to both entertain and educate. With uniquely focused lifestyle setups and feature payoffs, we’re best suited to find a perfect fit for every consumer.

Can you give a couple of examples of how the content differed customer to customer?

Zach: With the help of one of Isobar’s sister agencies,Carat, and Google, we developed 34 different shopper profiles. Based on consumer’s demographic and lifestyle interests, we tailored these ads specifically to fall into profile buckets. For the shopper that is checking out rock music videos on YouTube, we captured a nostalgia every rock lover knows: rocking out on the open highway. How did we connect that feeling to the vehicle? Available Bose® premium speakers.

Sports fans checking out the highlight reels right as the MLB season heats up for the playoffs were greeted with a new kind of double play: a combination of sophisticated style and surprising performance.

And for those YouTubers watching high-end product reviews, we asked them to slip into something luxurious. Like, for instance, the front seat of the All-New Regal GS. This trim, with all its bells and whistles, was perfect for this audience.

Travel enthusiasts and others that have to fly often definitely appreciate comfort and are usually willing to pay a little more for a smoother trip. We made sure to let our travel enthusiasts know that they can upgrade to first-class, even on their road trips.

How does the approach for 15 second spots differ from 30 second ads?

Zach: For successful YouTube pre-roll campaigns, it is widely established that creative needs to be relevant, natural and, most of all, short. There are only 15 second pre-roll videos as to not distract consumers too long from the content they originally came for.

Phillip: For this project, we focused on 15 second pre-roll ads with the goal of creating short, engaging ads that would deliver on campaign goals. The nature of skippable content makes the first five seconds absolutely critical. With that in mind, we aimed to deliver the contextual line within the first seconds in order to capture that user’s attention and strike interest in continuing to watch through the end of the ad.

Now we have greatly improved targeting tools, how has the creative process changed?

Zach: Targeting tools are more advanced than ever before and this had a major impact on the end product for dynamic pre-roll. The creative methods we used to generate concepts for this campaign are the ones we rely on every day, however, the starting point was very different. We know so much about who is going to see our ads that supporting narratives can organically guide us toward solutions equally based in creativity and data science.

Read the press release and view more of the work on Isobar.com.