YouTube celebrates ad innovation

Alex Okosi, MD of Google Africa.

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YouTube has become a powerhouse with more than 2 billion people logging in every month, says Alex Okosi, MD of Google Africa.

Okosi spoke to ITWeb at the YouTube Works Awards South Africa 2025, held in Melrose Arch last week. He said the awards don't just to celebrate creators, but also the advertisers that understand the power of YouTube and how they want to leverage the platform to ensure they reach their audience in a more authentic way.

The awards, held in partnership with Kantar, formed part of YouTube’s 20th anniversary celebrations. They recognised the country’s most innovative and effective advertising campaigns, honouring brands and agencies that demonstrated powerful storytelling, technological creativity and measurable business results.

The awards were launched earlier in the year, and a panel of industry leaders was convened to judge entries across six categories. These categories focused on campaigns that demonstrated effective use of audience insights, creative vision, technology and cross-platform integration to achieve significant business impact.

The awards underscore YouTube's position as a platform that bridges the gap between advertisers and their audiences. YouTube provides a successful platform that also connects new brands to their audience, as 87% of viewers engage with ads and two-thirds find them relevant and trustworthy through the platform.

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When asked how YouTube leverages machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance campaign measurement, Okosi said: “We have tools now to enable advertisers to be able to come up with scripts and campaigns from actual visual campaigns that they can run on YouTube without having to stress about coming up with them themselves. You can now have creative running on the platform based on leveraging AI, which is not necessarily something you would have done before. Now you can effectively create campaigns that then target a wider range of customers than before on YouTube, enabling you to connect to audiences that you want to reach in a much more effective way.”

Lorraine Landon, head of advertising products and solutions at Google, addressed the industry's shift away from third-party cookies. She emphasised that Google's future-focused data modelling prioritises user privacy while delivering accurate measurement and marketing. “We've been phasing out cookies for years, ensuring advertisers have the tools they need to thrive. Our new measurement frameworks rely on modelling, accommodating consumer preferences and regulatory requirements.”

Absa Group's 'I Grew It: Finance 101' campaign clinched both the Grand Prix and the YouTube Symphony Award.

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Landon highlighted Google's efforts to adapt its infrastructure, including updating Google Analytics to be future-focused and enabling modelling capabilities across web and app platforms. “It's about striking a balance between consumer safety and data value. As regulations evolve, especially in Europe and Africa, we're constantly updating our approach to ensure we can deliver relevant, high-performing ads.

The standout winner was Absa Group, whose 'I Grew It: Finance 101' campaign clinched both the Grand Prix and the YouTube Symphony Award. The campaign was praised for sparking financial literacy while integrating YouTube with other platforms to achieve business impact. Candice Thurston, group marketing executive at Absa, said the recognition reinforced the company's belief that “your story matters”.

Kabelo Makwane, country director for Google South Africa, commended the calibre of entries, calling them proof of the “vibrant ingenuity of South Africa’s advertising industry”.

"We launched these awards to celebrate the innovative talent behind campaigns that not only tell brilliant stories but also leverage YouTube to connect with over 25 million viewers and achieve significant business results. This celebratory moment shows our commitment to the growth of the creative ecosystem in South Africa even as we celebrate YouTube's 20th birthday,” Makwane added.