With over 30 years of experience in marketing, Henriette van Swinderen is the managing director of the Dutch Advertisers Association (BvA) and chair of the National Associations Council for the World Federation of Advertisers. She has previously worked for companies like P&G Benelux and T-Mobile Netherlands.
With YouTube reaching over 13M people aged 18+ in the Netherlands1 — a colossal 75% of the country’s population — the reach of it as a marketing channel is undeniable.
The challenge, however, isn't reaching the crowd; it's cutting through the noise. So, how do you ensure your brand becomes a tide-turner, not just another drop in YouTube's ocean of content?
As Managing Director of the BvA and Chair of a judging panel for YouTube Works in the Netherlands, I see the innovative ways brands are making waves firsthand.
From the importance of creativity to a mastery of native formats, here are some of my favourite Dutch YouTube ads, and what you can learn from them:
KPN's 'Sound-On' creative: A YouTube content strategy
YouTube is designed for active, intentional viewing — and in most cases, that means it’s a 'sound-on' environment. Whether it’s music videos, podcasts, or long-form content on the TV screen, viewers come to YouTube expecting to listen as much as watch. This is in contrast to some other platforms where viewers prefer to watch in silent mode. This gives brands a unique opportunity to use sound and storytelling in more meaningful ways.
KPN, the Dutch telecoms provider, launched #BetterInternet last year, with a mission to make the internet safer, more social, and greener. The initiative aims to draw attention to urgent but underexposed internet issues. Online shaming is one such problem.
To address this, KPN — and its agency partners Mindshare, Dentsu Creative Amsterdam, and Wefilm Media — worked with popular Dutch singer MEAU to create "Stukje van mij" (A Piece of Me).
This campaign effectively used music as a creative force to tackle this sensitive social issue. The long-form YouTube video allowed a profound message to facilitate a national conversation, becoming a certified gold record, and generating over 4 million views on YouTube alone.
It was even used in over 100 schools for education, all while significantly boosting brand perception around online safety and trust.
Matchday: Reach Gen Z where they are
Strategic media planning plays a vital role in ensuring content achieves its objectives and translates into business impact. Understanding audience behaviour and platform dynamics is crucial for content to truly stand out and deliver.
The Matchday campaign exemplified the kind of strategic culture clash that thrives on YouTube. Matchday needed to capture the attention of Gen Z during the European Championship, without being an official partner.
They did this by assembling a powerful coalition of partners: adidas and FC Afkicken anchored the football world; Broederliefde and Top Notch brought critical music and cultural credibility; and Supergaande, De Stroom, and StudioM delivered the necessary entertainment and production polish.
This deliberate mix of football, music, and entertainment made the content feel genuinely native and relevant to the target audience:
At its core, Matchday was built on a simple but powerful insight: the best place to create and distribute football content is where Gen Z already is: YouTube.
The show featured hip-hop artists and genuine friends as hosts, ensuring other artists, influencers, and football players wanted to be part of the fun. The campaign planned how its content will reach specific sub-audiences across various YouTube channels and formats (including long-form episodes, Shorts for virality, and Livestreams for real-time interaction) to maximise reach and relevance.
With several viral videos, they achieved a total of 24 million views, all organically.
KPN: Win attention by being surprising
Brands are learning to blend their message with genuine entertainment, making it harder to distinguish between an ad and creator or native content. These videos find the sweet spot between brand messaging and entertainment.
A prime example of this seamless blend is Logbusters from Dutch telco KPN, and agencies Dentsu Creative Amsterdam, Mindshare, and A Bigger Circle. After uncovering the insight that millions of people watch digital fireplaces on YouTube during Christmas, the teams wanted to tap into the fireplace trend and show people there was so much more to see at KPN.
This campaign ingeniously aired a six-hour video of a roaring fire, which subtly hid promo codes for KPN’s entertainment offerings — shown on logs added to the fire at certain points — within the ambient, long-form content.
Its brilliance lies in its simplicity and clever hack, tapping into YouTube-native formats — like watching digital fireplaces or long-form content. It shows a smart understanding of platform trends and viewing behaviours, making the creative feel both relevant and authentic to how people engage on YouTube.
WerkTalent: Think creatively and be familiar
The ‘TransferTalent’ campaign from Dutch temp agency WerkTalent and social agency team5pm, demonstrates how a strong creative concept — and one that is familiar to your audience — can make a great ad:
The campaign reimagined recruitment by treating new hires like football stars — and presenting job placements as high-profile transfers. The idea gave visibility and pride to temporary workers; a workforce often overlooked. It used the familiar language of football culture to connect with a new generation of talent.
The campaign took place across multiple YouTube videos — from dramatic reveal clips to mock press interviews — making the content feel native to the platform and highly engaging.
The result: a bold, culturally resonant campaign that positioned WerkTalent as the ultimate matchmaker and drove an impressive 11X lift in Google search interest.
FNV: Activate change with purpose-led storytelling
A particularly impactful observation has been the strong performance of videos focusing on societal impact. These campaigns, often designed to make a positive difference, show that sometimes the most powerful content isn't about scripted authenticity, but about tackling real-world problems that resonate with viewers.
Dutch civic organisation, FNV Young & United, alongside partner Sofi, the social-first agency for mission-driven brands and societal campaigns. focused its Jeugdloon campaign on youth wages, a pressing issue affecting over 300,000 young Dutch adults:
The "Valse Start" (False Start) series went beyond raising awareness — it used YouTube to mobilise a national movement. Achieving 75,874 views and, more impressively, nearly 40,000 petition signatures calling for the abolition of youth wages.
Critically, the series was discussed in the Dutch House of Representatives, leading to the submission and passing of two motions against youth wages.
The future of YouTube content is exciting. Brands that master these insights will be best positioned to not only stand out but to also drive powerful, measurable, and repeatable business results.
