Centrepoint partners with Google to roll out region’s first retail video ad sequencing campaign

For the first time in the region, Google has introduced a new sequencing feature that enables advertisers to target users with different messages within one overall campaign.

The video ad sequencing feature was rolled out last week as part of a campaign created by Impact BBDO to promote the regional e-commerce channel of Centrepoint, the Middle East’s largest fashion retailer. The team from Google and MEC, a leading media planning agency, were involved in every stage of the campaign from planning, sharing best practices on creating videos to identifying the right audience which enabled the successful rollout of the videos.

Commenting on the launch of the new feature, Alex Brunori, Creative Impact Lead Google MENA, said, “The video ad sequencing feature lets you string together ad creatives. You can pivot, you can react and you can take consumers down a different path depending on which ads are working for them. For example, advertisers can show a 15-second TrueView ad to build awareness, continue with another, longer spot that communicates product attributes, then follow with a six-second bumper ad to keep top-of-mind and drive to purchase. And they can build a longer story that lives in episodes, mirroring the always-on consumer lifestyle.”

Shyam Sunder, Senior Marketing Head & E-commerce Lead at Centrepoint, said, “We are extremely pleased to work with Google to introduce the video ad sequencing feature. This is truly a collaborative campaign – one that brings together the expertise of our advertising agency and partners.

“As a brand, we are continuously looking at innovative and clever ways to get our message across to our customers. This feature coupled with our creative campaign represents an innovative turning point for the brand that we are excited to share with our e-commerce customers and wider regional audiences,” he added.

The e-commerce campaign from Centrepoint consists of a series of videos with the storyline revolving around an astronaut that has nothing to wear when she encounters an alien lifeform. YouTube and BBDO were both heavily involved in the evolution of the full form versions as well as the bumper adverts.

To live outside of YouTube these videos have also been incorporated into a wider website competition across Centrepoint's social media channels which is enlisting the help of customers to help design an out of this world spacesuit for the astronaut featured in the video content.

Shyam added, “This campaign design driven aimed at encouraging Centrepoint's customer to explore their creativity and apply their design skills in a way that requires them to think outside of the box, and out of this world! It will also give the final winners, who will be announced early next year, the opportunity to meet design professionals from within the advertising industry directly to work collaboratively on the final designs.”