Time-tested brands have long used storytelling to grow mindshare. What’s changed today is how they do it.
They’re turning to digital content platforms, which people use daily, to tell stories that connect with consumers.
According to a study conducted by Kantar in Hong Kong, YouTube is the No. 1 video platform, reaching more surveyed respondents across screens than any other video platform.1
With that one platform, brands can influence audiences across devices, including mobile phones and YouTube on connected TV.
Below are the “secret” formulas for the YouTube success stories of MTR and McDonald’s Hong Kong.
How to use YouTube to tell in-depth, immersive stories: MTR
As Hong Kong’s railway operator, MTR wants to be more than just a utility to commuters.
So for its 45th anniversary, it set out to strengthen its public perception.
Its plan was to use immersive brand storytelling to connect with the city’s diverse demographic, including its younger generation.
Given its ambition, MTR made the bold decision to not rely heavily on traditional marketing approaches but to embrace digital marketing.
It diversified its use of media channels and successfully tapped YouTube's storytelling capabilities to drive an impressive 5.6% brand lift.
These are the three digital storytelling moves that drove MTR’s success:
1. Use YouTube’s diverse content formats to influence audiences. For its campaign launch, MTR created a cinematic YouTube video that pays homage to the classic cantopop song “Few minutes’ date” about heartwarming human connections that form on train rides.
MTR’s remake of the song is sung by pop star Hins Cheung, and the YouTube video tugged at heartstrings with its moving montage of commuter scenes from iconic Hong Kong movies.
MTR also created an upbeat YouTube music video featuring popular girl group Yolica, with a strong social following. A Shorts version of the video was created for easy social sharing.
By using YouTube, MTR was able to connect authentically with audiences, including Gen Z, through various content formats and immersive experiences.
2. Use YouTube’s versatile platform to drive incremental reach and maximum awareness. To generate strong campaign buzz, MTR ran its launch video as a YouTube Masthead.
The video appeared in the YouTube Home feed across all devices and was seen by the maximum possible viewers in Hong Kong.
MTR also timed the video’s launch hour on YouTube with its first spot on linear TV by using YouTube’s Cost-Per-Hour Masthead option.
The integrated approach, which YouTube made possible, ensured MTR’s campaign had strong momentum from the start and reached a broad audience quickly.
3. Collaborate with diverse YouTube creators to tell in-depth, untold stories. As part of its campaign, MTR also invited YouTube creators with different interests to explore its depots which are not usually open to the public.
The creators’ unique access meant they could share untold stories and personal experiences that highlight a different side of MTR to the public.
One standout video is an entertaining documentary, filmed in the style of a gameshow, by the creator World Serious Organisation.
In sum, YouTube’s many strengths across content formats, creator storytelling, and ads, allowed MTR to achieve a level of brand storytelling that it couldn’t with traditional media.
MTR’s successful shift to digital marketing earned it the Best Digital Transformation honours at YouTube Works Awards Hong Kong 2025.
How to use YouTube to tell serial stories that fuel interaction: McDonald’s Hong Kong
People know and love McDonald’s for its fast food but few might immediately think of it as a purpose-led brand.
So on its 50th anniversary, McDonald’s Hong Kong ran a campaign to shift people’s perception of it as just a fast food giant. It chose YouTube to bring about that change.
The platform’s multiple strengths include digital storytelling features that allow for real-time viewer engagement and excitement. Its creators also tell serialised stories that draw people back for more.
These are the two ways McDonald’s Hong Kong used YouTube storytelling to have people embrace it as a force for good.
1. Partner a YouTube creator to tell a series of inspiring, real-life stories. McDonald’s Hong Kong worked with YouTube creator Mill Milk, known for its authentic stories about life in Hong Kong, to spotlight McDonald’s as a community champion.
The creator’s series of videos includes the story of three siblings who gave up their lives as fishermen and have been working at McDonald’s for 28 years and counting.
Another video features a young family that overcame struggles with the support of Ronald McDonald House Charities when their child battled cancer.
What kickstarted the success of the series is its inaugural video about the trials and triumphs of Bryan, a 37-year-old with mild autism who’s dedicated 17 years to frying perfect fries at the McDonald’s branch in Admiralty.
2. Use YouTube to drive real-time engagement and excitement. The inaugural video in the series was launched via YouTube Premieres, which lets viewers watch a new video together in real time.
The experience is akin to a live stream and viewers can interact in the comments and live chat.
The YouTube experience was so successful at nurturing emotional connection that more than 100 people visited Bryan at the branch in the week after the video launched to cheer him on.
The success of the YouTube video about Bryan won McDonald’s The Changemaker title at the YouTube Works Awards Hong Kong 2025.
Indeed, when it comes to brand storytelling in Hong Kong, digital marketing is the way forward and YouTube takes it to the next level.
Its immersive content formats, engaging viewing experiences, and creators skilled at nurturing emotional connection through storytelling, will help you win over audiences.
Contributor: Dora Cheung, YouTube Specialist, Large Customer Sales
