Story

YouTube Premium had a persuasion problem. Students were already watching YouTube for free, so convincing them to pay for it required more than a banner ad or a discount code. The benefits were real but abstract: offline downloads, no ads, background play. To land them, YouTube needed to earn five uninterrupted minutes with a generation that doesn't give those away easily.

Action

The Taste of Premium tour gave students something tangible in exchange for their attention. At 40 universities across the UK, Seed built out a live experience where students could learn about YouTube Premium's features — and walk away with a limited-edition mug and a serving of hot vegan churros with chocolate sauce if they signed up to the free trial.

YouTube creators including Michael Dapaah and Callux made appearances on campus, with each stop pre-promoted through their own channels before the tour arrived. On-campus micro-influencers were brought in daily to sample the experience and share content, turning each event into its own moment of peer-to-peer word of mouth.

A custom digital platform handled sign-ups at speed and gave the team real-time data to optimise across the tour. Trained student ambassadors worked alongside the broader crew, driving footfall through their own campus and digital networks and keeping the energy high across all 40 stops.

This was our most successful YouTube Premium campaign since launch. The guys did a phenomenal job and we couldn’t be more excited to go bigger and better” Grace Sobey, Head of Subscription Marketing