Zefr Drives Exceptional Performance for Mazda’s Reveal of the Mazda CX-50” Campaign on YouTube

The Campaign Broke Through to Viewers, Influencing Positive Brand Perception

+18%

Incremental Search Lift for the new model

+75%

Awareness Rate of Mazda Brand

The Objective

Multinational auto brand Mazda, along with their US media agency, Garage Team Mazda, sought to support the launch of the Mazda CX-50 with a video campaign to introduce and drive awareness for the new model with creatives that featured the car’s functionality and durability for the outdoors.

On YouTube, Mazda partnered with Zefr to leverage their Cognition AI powered technology for targeting via Zefr’s managed service, with an objective to drive awareness and engagement by surrounding brand safe & suitable Outdoor Adventure content. They also sought to measure the impact of the campaign through a customized 3P measurement program for Mazda to showcase media effectiveness through Kantar Millward Brown, Google Brand Lift and Google Search Lift results.

As part of the approach, Zefr leveraged proprietary insights derived from YouTube to uncover how viewership trends on YouTube were growing across contextual categories like Local Travel, Automotive, Tech, Sports, Photography, Outdoor Adventures and more. These insights guided customized targeting recommendations and enabled Mazda to contextually align their creatives with themes that resonated with their audiences.

The Solution

Zefr’s solution for Mazda was a customized contextual framework of TrueView In-Stream, :06s Bumpers, strategic retargeting, and multiple 3P measurement studies that aligned Mazda with content themes relevant to their A25-54 target audiences, and incorporated the trending insights surrounding viewership habits on the YouTube Platform. Zefr included various contextual themes including Outdoor Adventures, Entertainment Content, Seasonal Content (Fall/​Winter), Social Good Content, and more.

Contextual Alignment With

Domestic Adventure Travel
Foodie Travel
Roadtrips
Outdoor Adventures
Kayaking
Mountain Biking

The Results


The 2021 Zefr & Mazda CX-50 campaign broke through to viewers, encouraging search activity and shifting brand perceptions. Beyond exceptional media performance, Zefr was able to drive down funnel success as measured by YouTube BLS, SLS and Kantar Millward Brown studies. 


The Mazda & Zefr CX-50 campaign was drive incremental Search Lift Activity for the new model (18% above Auto benchmark) as well as a similar Lift in Searches for the Mazda brand.


The campaign also​reached a receptive audience, hitting an Awareness rate of nearly 75%, successfully positioning Mazda as a top-of-mind brand among target audiences.


Zefr & Garage Team Mazda’s ​‘Reveal of Mazda CX-50’ Won Campaign of the Year at the ThinkLA 2022 Idea Awards

Zefr’s Reveal of Mazda CX-50’ Won Campaign of the Year at the ThinkLA 2022 Idea Awards

https://youtu.be/v-grCAZeKa4

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