Google Australia uses real stories to show how YouTube powers projects for good
Google Australia has launched a set of videos that tell stories of real people that have used YouTube content to build on ideas that have a positive impact on society.
The campaign, by VMLY&R, focuses on three videos that each tell a story of impressive entrepreneurial Australians that used the platform to self-teach or learn more about subjects, in order to pass that on to the wider community.
As the Google announcement says, gone are the days where teachers used old and outdated VHS learning tapes, instead, people can use the internet to have access to up-to-date learning content. It uses a stat to show how this impacts Australian behaviour, claiming that in 2017, 81% watched videos to learn how to do something or with 'how-to' in the title, up 75% since 2015.
“More and more Aussies are coming to YouTube to learn with educational videos generating hundreds of millions of views,” said the head of YouTube marketing for Australia and New Zealand, Mark Wheeler.
“I am always inspired by hearing people’s personal stories about what they have learned on YouTube and then gone on to achieve. In the words of Eddie Woo, “YouTube is democratising education”. We wanted to tell some of these stories to share with Aussies that information is simply a ‘how to’ search away.”
Eddie Woo is one of the people in the videos. His video shows his background as a maths teacher and how he started recording his lessons and putting them on YouTube so that one of his students that were diagnosed with cancer could watch.
The other videos depict barber Charles Lomu, who learned his skills on YouTube and now helps out local youths by teaching them skills. Macinley Butson, the subject of the final video, is an 18-year-old that has invented an armour for radiation for cancer patients.
The videos will be shown on YouTube and all run to around 4-5 minutes each, a counter to the trend for shorter video content.
VMLY&R joint chief executive Aden Hepburn said: “Six-second content is the new normal and there is certainly a war for attention, however, audiences still crave long-form content. Winning your audience's’ attention from the get-go and maintaining it throughout, with a heart-beat story arc, is the key to making engaging content in today’s content saturated marketplace.”
