YouTube has launched a new creator series titled “Marketing Unfiltered” to highlight its Ad Solutions for marketers across Southeast Asia, featuring well-known social media personality Annette Lee as “Aunty M” to bring humor to educational content.

As Marketech Apac reports, the series represents Google’s first collaboration with content creators to showcase the effectiveness of YouTube Ad Solutions, with creator strategy support from The Carrot Collective and VIRTUE Asia.

“Marketing Unfiltered” follows Aunty M meeting marketing professionals across the region to discuss optimizing Google and YouTube Ads Solutions. The first episode introduces the character as she learns to promote her sambal belacan business, aiming to simplify the advertising of her products through entertaining content.

The distribution strategy includes full episodes for engagement, mid-form segments for audience relevance, and short-form highlights for frequency, rolling out across Google’s regional YouTube channels in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

“Our products are constantly evolving, so it was time our storytelling did too. This series lets us speak to marketers and entrepreneurs on their terms, in ways that feel accessible, local, and culturally relevant,” said Samit Malkani, Group Marketing Creative Manager at Google Southeast Asia and South Asia, in a statement.

The initiative comes as Southeast Asia’s digital economy expands to an estimated $263 billion GMV with $122 billion in revenue, according to a recent AnyMind Group report.

The region maintains strong mobile penetration at 117.8% and internet penetration of 78.2%, with 55-65% of internet users spending on digital products.

Video Content Dominates Consumer Journey

Google’s focus on video content aligns with regional trends. AnyMind’s research indicates video formats consistently outperform other content types throughout the consumer journey in Southeast Asia.

At the awareness stage, influencer videos and short-form content achieve the highest engagement. For consideration, demonstration videos (59%), user reviews (56%), and influencer videos (54%) are most preferred by consumers.

This trend continues at the conversion stage, where video ads remain the most effective format (32%), followed by sponsored product ads (24%) and shoppable videos and live stream ads (20%).

Zoe Chen, Strategy Director at creative & ad agency VIRTUE Asia, highlighted the authenticity-focused approach: “Many YouTube creators are already creating content about Google Ads Solutions, so this was an opportunity to claim that narrative by collaborating with them to produce engaging content.”

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Check Out Our Podcast