Animal Planet leverages rich media and video advertising to engage 20M+ viewers

Overview

Animal Planet, the 'Surprisingly Human' TV network, is well known for sharing bold stories focused on the interaction of humans and animals in the real world. To build awareness and viewership for the new season of the popular River Monsters series, they brought these stories to life through an integrated media campaign. Compelling rich media and video advertising on both desktop and mobile created an engaging experience that drove virality and social buzz around the show - which launched with viewership that exceeded expectations.

Unleashing the new River Monsters

Animal Planet leveraged a suite of YouTube and AdMob advertising products to promote River Monsters, a hit show starring the world's largest, strangest and most dangerous fish. Running across platforms enabled them to reach the broadest audience possible in an engaging and interactive way. In order to truly capture the imagination of entertainment and outdoor enthusiasts, ads led visitors to a mimicry gadget on the Animal Planet Brand Channel. This enabled the star of the show to pop off the screen to introduce new creatures of the season.

In the week leading up to the premiere, Animal Planet drove engagement with the mimicry gadget in a variety of ways. YouTube users were able to interact with River Monsters content whether they were searching for their favorite video, watching partner content or browsing the homepage.

• Promoted Video Ads enabled Animal Planet to capture the attention of viewers looking for similar content on YouTube.com - a fantastic way to reach their target audience with relevant clips from the show.
• In-Stream Overlay Video Ads on both desktop and mobile extended this engagement to partner content with a clickable overlay leading to the River Monsters Brand Channel.
• To drive even more excitement on the day of the premiere, a Rich Media Masthead on the YouTube homepage revealed clips from the upcoming episode and clearly reminded users they should tune in.

AdMob Interactive Video Ads increased mobile reach by extending the campaign into partner apps on the AdMob network. Users were able to watch a preview of the River Monsters show, share the video through social media, learn more on the show's mobile website and watch additional videos all from within the mobile ad.

This integrated approach to media ensured that Animal Planet would reach as many potential viewers as possible across both YouTube and the AdMob Network, while the fun creative elements encouraged engagement past the ad creative — whether through subscribing to the YouTube Channel or sharing content with friends.