YouTube Hong Kong's top videos for 2019

- Local news, tutorials and parodies topped the chart

- Growing diversity of music genres gaining popularity

YouTube Hong Kong Rewind 2019 reveals this year’s top trending videos, including Top 10 Trending Videos, Top 10 Trending Local Music Videos, Top 10 Trending International Music Videos, and Top 10 Emerging Channels.

Music has always been Hong Kong users’ favourite content, from music videos, live performances, remixes, and even cover songs. Hongkongers also use YouTube to discover, stay informed with what’s happening in the city, and to learn. Over 60% of local users said they have watched original videos on YouTube.

While many tune in to YouTube to watch livestreams and news on mobile, local creators are also inspired by current affairs in the city. This year, Jason’s video 防暴要求我落車?係咪想打我或屈我襲警? which was about his encounter with Hong Kong riot police in Causeway Bay topped the charts as the most viewed original video in Hong Kong.

Other videos discussing the city’s trending topics such as memehk’s video about the Andy Hui and Jacqueline Wong scandal 許志安和黃心穎偷食的教訓〈蕭若元：八卦蕭析〉2019-04-16 and FHProductionHK’s video about the behaviour of Chinese aunties 大媽的道理 made it to this year’s list as well.

Hong Kong people also like learning from YouTube. Coffee Lam’s workout tutorials have made it on the chart for two consecutive years, with her 30-minute fitness video 30分鐘全身消脂增肌運動 (一個月內見效) ranking fourth in 2019.

Local artists have also started uploading lifestyle vlogs and parody videos on YouTube to better connect with their fans. Hins Cheung, for example, saw 張敬軒有咩問題？惡搞容祖兒 Pretty Crazy MV parodying Joey Yung’s music video take the second spot on the Top 10 Trending Videos this year.

Topping this year’s Top 10 Trending Local Music Videos is the orchestral music video of Glory to Hong Kong (《願榮光歸香港》管弦樂團及合唱團版) by Black Blorchestra. Other non-mainstream music videos that have made it onto the chart are JB’s 潮共, LMF’s W.T.F.H.K. and NEI FEI WO’s 和你飛.

Meanwhile, the TV series theme song Can You Hear by Kayee Tam took second spot, followed by other Cantopop including Leo Ku and Nancy Wu’s 亂世情侶, and Sammi Cheung’s 我們都是這樣長大.

Hongkongers are also big fans of international music, especially creative works by Asian artists. Of the Top Trending International Music Videos, seven were created by Asian artists and singer-songwriters, including Jay Chou’s 說好不哭 featuring special guest Ashin from Mayday, which attracted 10 million views globally in just two days; followed by K-pop group BTS’ Boy With Luv and Eric Chou’s 怎麼了.

YouTube Hong Kong's 2019 Top 10 Emerging Channels include: 啤梨頻道BarryMa TV in top spot with videos discussing current affairs and the city’s hot topics, followed by 佩男 Puinam, focused on travel vlogs, then 志森與志豪 which features social satire. YouTube also identified interest in motor-themed channels such as XRX, 魚波 Yu Ball and HKMonkeyRider.

The company launched YouTube Premium paid membership services in December. This enables Hong Kong users to watch videos without ads, with additional features including background play, smart downloads and offline play. Monthly fees start from HK$68, with YouTube Music paid membership included.

YouTube Music, a smart music streaming service, now helps music lovers tap into the music content available on YouTube. YouTube Music is available in 78 countries and regions, including Hong Kong. Music fans can also download the new YouTube Music app (Android and iOS) to enjoy personalised smart music on mobile. In addition to the free, ads-supported version, users can choose paid membership for advanced features like background play, smart search, and download for offline play. The monthly subscription costs HK$58.

More than 1 billion music fans visit YouTube each month. 

Hashtags: #YouTube香港回顧, #YouTubeRewind

Check out the YouTube FanFest Hong Kong lineup

Source: YouTube. Poster for YouTube FanFest Hong
Kong 2018.

The YouTube FanFest, presented by Manulife, is back in Hong Kong on August 3 at the Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre (KITEC).

The event is a live show connecting the biggest YouTube creators from Hong Kong and around the world with fans. YouTube FanFest Hong Kong lineup features:

- Matt Steffanina, US dancer, YouTuber and social media personality who is known for his dance content

- Ms. Yeah 辦公室小野, the lady who cooks with unusual tools in her office

- 聖結石 Saint

- 笑波子 Smiling Boris,

- 屎萊姆 Edward Slime,

- Hana Tam, who is known for fashion lookbooks, beauty tutorials, and friend tags/challenge completions.

-  JW 王灝兒,

- MC Jin, the US-based rapper and songwriter

- Mira's Garden, a Chinese YouTube star who focuses on travel, food, and beauty

- Emi Wong, who began vlogging regularly in 2017. She is now known for her health, fitness, and lifestyle vlogging

- Shangrila 香格拉,

- RubberBand,

- WHIZOO (Jon Jon and Kovis), and

- Bilingual and Hong Kong-bred standup comedian Vivek Mahbubani (阿V), who performs in both Cantonese and English

These creators are set to take the stage for a night filled with music, dance, and fun.

“We’re delighted to host YouTube FanFest again in Hong Kong to celebrate the growing community with amazing YouTube creators and energetic fans. We love coming here because of fans’ energy and enthusiasm, and to see international creators and homegrown talents shine on stage,” said Sean Park, Marketing Director, YouTube International Markets.

Manulife is the first financial services company to be a presenting sponsor of YouTube FanFest Hong Kong.

Source: YouTube. A group picture from YouTube FanFest Hong Kong 2017.

Details:

Tickets are available online starting from 5pm HK time on July 10, 2018. YouTube creators will also be giving away their own tickets to the show and offering meet-and-greet sessions via their social media channels.

YouTube FanFest

Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre (KITEC)

Hong Kong

August 3 2018

YouTube channel

Hashtag: #YTFFHK

Digital marketing methods must change in the Middle East during Ramadhan

Source: Think with Google website. Changes in statistics for Musalsalat, a hub for a Ramadhan TV series, during the month.

Ramadhan requires specific digital marketing optimisation techniques in the Middle East and North Africa, says the Think with Google blog. According to blog authors Vrinda Singh, Google Analytical Consultant, David Lacklen, YouTube Specialist, and Younis Maqousi, Google Analytical Consultant, people access the Internet more often on their mobile devices, watch more YouTube videos, and use search engines more often during the month.

"We also notice that during Ramadhan people are more willing to engage with brands, they watch more ads on YouTube and they share, like and comment more. This heightened engagement behaviour is then sustained for the remainder of the year, so establishing a strong presence in Ramadhan is crucial for long term success," say Singh, Lacklen and Maqousi.

According to Google, average view duration during Ramadhan increases by 11%, users subscribe at 13% more quickly, and commented 57% more during Ramadhan 2016 compared to the rest of the year.
The top six learnings from top Ramadhan ads in 2016, garnered through the inaugural Lantern award, are:

1. Do multi-part stories

2. Think like a service provider, such as a bank or telco

3. Engage people

4. Try different ways to tell the story

5. Consider not using a celebrity

6. Eid is a good focus, too

Timing is important, too. The Ramadhan build-up begins a month before the start. Searches for recipes are 50% higher than the annual average at the start of the month, and cooking videos on Youtube increase in views a month before, spiking at almost 30% higher than average in the first week of Ramadhan. Think with Google says that there is a 44% decrease of viewership between the first and last week of Ramadhan, and 25% more viewership during the month than in other months.

Source: Think with Google page. Spikes in searches for recipes during Ramadhan.

Internet activity is typically up in the hours before the fast is broken, and down thereafter, for example. According to the blog authors, UAE food delivery queries go up 144% between 1pm and 7pm. The busiest search times for restaurant information then comes between 6 PM and 8 PM - just around iftar, but continues until around 2am.

There are more searches around faith and religion, particularly for music and film, but also animated movies, possibly to entertain children, the blog authors said. Other popular searches were for keywords around luxury vehicles, fashion and beauty.

Interested?

Browse the detailed statistics for Ramadhan digital behaviour in Ramadan Insights part 1, about data mining and insight generation

Watch the top videos of Ramadhan 2016 on Ramadan Insights part 2, about creative development

Read the Ramadan Insights part 3 post on designing a campaign

Panasonic Open Golf Championship to attract global audience with live streaming

Panasonic will livestream the Panasonic Open Golf Championship at selected holes and locations during the weekend rounds at the Chiba Country Club (Umesato Course) to enhance the viewing experience of golf fans.

For the first time in 112 years, golf is scheduled to be held in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Panasonic, which has been a Worldwide Olympic Partner for over 25 years, will host the Panasonic Open once again in order to contribute to this new era of golf. In addition to the traditional men’s tour, Panasonic has established a Ladies’ Step Up Tour tournament to support both male and female golfers who are competing for a spot in the Olympic Games.

The Panasonic Open Golf Championship, co-hosted by Panasonic Corporation and the Japan Golf Tour Organization, will be making its debut on the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Schedules from April 21 to 24. It has attracted a stellar lineup which includes current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Marcus Fraser of Australia. Total prize money for the tournament is 150 million Yen (approximately US$1.27 million).

Viewers will get the opportunity to watch the action on holes one, 10 and 18 as well as from the practice range during the third and final rounds at the Chiba Country Club on the Japan Golf Tour Organization official YouTube channel.

Andy Wada, a former Asian Tour player, and Dave Fromm will lead the commentary in English during the broadcast.

The LPGA Step Up Tour Panasonic Open Ladies, co-hosted by the Ladies Professional Golfers' Association of Japan and Panasonic Corporation at Chiba Country Club (Noda Course), will be held for total prize money of 20,000,000 yen from April 20 to 22.

Interested?

Catch the action at 7:00am (Japan time) on April 23 and 24 via the Japan Golf Tour Organization official YouTube channel

Key dates:

April 20: Designated practice day
April 21: 1st round
April 22: 2nd round
April 23: 3rd round
April 24: Final round

posted from Bloggeroid

Google brings free Wi-Fi to Mumbai Central Station, introduces Indic keyboard app

Source: Google Asia Pacific blog.

Starting 22 January, those passing through Mumbai Central station in India will have access to free, high-speed Wi-Fi, courtesy of Google. The service is part of a project announced in September 2015 to provide high-speed public Wi-Fi in 400 train stations across India.

Working with Indian Railways, which operates one of the world's largest railway networks, and RailTel, which provides Internet services as RailWire via its fibre network along many of the railway lines, Google's Access & Energy team plans to cover 100 of the busiest stations in India before the end of 2016, with the remaining stations following in quick succession.

"We’re hoping those of you from — or travelling through — Allahabad, Jaipur, Patna and Ranchi, will be as excited to learn that your stations are up next!" said Gulzar Azad, Head of Access Programs in India for Google in a blog post.

"Commuters will be able to tell if there is high-speed Wi-Fi available if they can see the ‘RailWire Wi-Fi’ network in Wi-Fi settings. If you see it, select it and follow the simple steps below to gain access on your phone and up to two additional devices, like a laptop or tablet — you’ll just need an Indian mobile number to get an access code for each device."

Azad said the Wi-Fi will initially be free, with a drop in speed after the first hour online. The long-term intention is to charge for the service in some way for self-sustainability.

The news follows an 18 January announcement that Google has developed a touch-based keyboard for the easier input of Hindi—and ten other Indian languages—with a phone or tablet. The Google Indic Keyboard app has been downloaded over 10 million times, and supports the alphabet used for that language, a transliteration keyboard, and handwriting input. Both Latin characters and native characters are recognised.

"By making mobile input easier for almost one billion speakers of Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu, we also hope to see more engaging content in these languages on the web," said Linda Lin, Product Manager, Google in a separate blog post.

January 2016 also saw the launch of YouTube home pages customised for Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in the local language and domain. YouTube was previously available in Nepali, Sinhalese and Urdu.

Interested?

View the associated video
How to watch YouTube videos offline
Download the Google Indic Keyboard from the Play store

Yummy Japan introduces Japanese food and culture through YouTube videos

Source: Yummy Japan website.

Yummy Japan has launched a new portal for visitors regarding all things Japan to meet demand for information about Japanese culture and food.

Yummy Japan is a multi-channel network* (MCN), and hosts some 50 foreign YouTubers and over 1,000 videos which are searchable by keyword categories such as creator, place names and food. The videos are connected to Google Maps, allowing users to get directions to the venue. Users can create an account on Yummy Japan, save a list of favourites as well as create blog posts.

*MCNs affiliate with more than one YouTube channels. This is what YouTube has to say about MCNs

UAE's TRA publishes YouTube usage guidelines

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE has launched guidelines to YouTube usage as part of The UAE Social Media White Papers collection. 

The TRA notes that YouTube has more than 1 billion unique visitors every month and over 100 hours of video uploaded every minute, and stated that the laws of the UAE prohibit the publication of content which is contrary to public morals, the principles of Islam and the social and moral welfare of the UAE, or any content that contains irreverence towards Islam and any other heavenly religions. The content must also respect the UAE Government, its leadership, political institutions and ultimately the UAE’s cultural heritage and social norms and customs. 

The white paper on YouTube lists the following guidelines: 

• Users are prohibited from undertaking predatory behaviour, stalking, threats and harassment of others. Harassment could include copying a user’s channel layout, using a similar username or posing as another person. 
• Users must only upload videos which they have made or which they are authorised to use. 
• YouTube is owned by Google. In using the YouTube service, users agree to Google’s terms relating to the collection and sharing of their personal information.

The TRA has an extensive collection of white papers with guidelines on various Internet services and social networks. White papers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yahoo/Flickr; LinkedIn; Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, the Apple Store, Blackberry and Keek are also available here. 

Know where you stand on social media with Socialbakers' Social Health Index

Socialbakers, a social media analytics and optimisation company, has introduced its Social Health Index, which was developed in partnership with Lenovo. The industry benchmark provides brands with a single assessment of their social marketing performance across platforms, allowing them to easily measure and compare their entire social footprint in relation to their competitors over time.

"The Social Health Index is the first industry benchmark that puts brands' social marketing performance into context," said Jan Rezab, CEO and Co-Founder of Socialbakers. "Brands need a way to quantify their return on investment into social relative to their competition. Our development of this index with Lenovo provides a simple way for brands in any industry to do this."

The Social Health Index traces a brand's social performance on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and combines it into one single rating. Brands are scored on four metrics key to core business goals - participation of the social audience, acquisition of new community members, retention of the brand's audience, and the shareability and effectiveness of content.

"Lenovo is constantly looking for ways to evaluate the approaches we take in engaging with our customers such as through conversations on our global Twitter handles or through our close to 60 Facebook pages across the organization," said Rod Strother, Director, Digital and Social Center of Excellence at Lenovo. 

"We recognised the need for an easy way to benchmark our use of social platforms against others in the industry and share this information in a digestible format with Lenovo executives. Socialbakers was the perfect partner with whom to develop this index due to the company's dedication to providing brands with competitive intelligence insights."

The Social Health Index is now available as part of Socialbakers' executive dashboard. Read the associated blog post here. 

Brilliant crowdsourced social media project drives Korean brand marketing

Director Park Chan-wook's hour-long film, "Bitter, Sweet, Seoul", is the result of Seoul's first-ever global crowd-sourced movie project. 

Source: PR Newswire

In a global brand marketing programme to explore various experiences and feelings that Seoul can provide, the Seoul Metropolitan Government asked people around the world to submit short video clips about Seoul on YouTube and via a microsite.

Nearly 12,000 clips, totalling 159 hours, 35 minutes and 4 seconds' worth of footage, were submitted from all over the world. The best were used for the movie, which is a striking departure from the typical city promotion video.

Director Park Chan-kyong, Park Chan-wook's brother and Co-producer of "Bitter, Sweet, Seoul" said, "I thought it was a very good opportunity to show how Seoul has different people and different lives."

The preview session was broadcast live to the world via YouTube on 10 February. The Seoul Metropolitan Government also set up an online chat in cooperation with Google Korea for both directors and Park Won-soon, the mayor of Seoul Metropolitan Government. 

"The greatest significance of this project is the fact that everyone from all over the world made this movie together. This is what makes this project truly meaningful," said Park Won-Soon. "The honesty and truthfulness of Seoul shown in the movie is what actually distinguishes the city."

"Bitter, Sweet, Seoul" can be watched here.