Ad Council Spots Show How Girls Can Be Inspired to Work in STEM

YouTube has partnered with Ad Council on three causes — empowering girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), preparing for disasters, and ending hunger — challenging AMP Agency and five other world-class creative agencies to explore how a deeper understanding of the people they’re trying to reach could create stories that drive real change.

Working with YouTube and Google, the team identified 12 audiences interested in the related causes. AMP Agency then tapped into the audiences’ interests and intent signals based on how they’re using Google & YouTube, deeper than demographic identifiers like age and gender, to directly inform the creative content. Each agency developed personalised creative for two niche audiences, ranging from sports fans to green living enthusiasts.

AMP Agency worked with She Can STEM to empower girls in STEM. Research shows that young girls are interested in STEM subjects but get discouraged from pursuing them by outdated stereotypes. To address this, AMP agency created ads tailored for technophile and bargain hunter parents who were found to have stronger affinity for the cause.

Through this experience the team learned that audience signals can be a powerful spark for more personalised and effective storytelling beyond just demographics.

“Our industry continues to work with typical demographics like age and gender to inform creative,” said James Hough, executive creative director, AMP Agency. “However, by utilising insights, we can enable deeper, more authentic storytelling and make better connections with our audience.”

“At YouTube, we've seen that relevant ads crafted creatively for a particular audience can provoke action in an impactful way,” says Sadie Thoma, director, creative agency development, Google. “We are excited to partner with the Ad Council and six world-class creative agencies to showcase the power of audience-inspired storytelling and ignite conversation around these three important causes.”