Background

As a leading digital telco provider in Indonesia, Telkomsel aims to win the digital market by targeting digitally savvy Indonesians. We discovered that most of them love consuming long-form video content, especially on YouTube. What they don’t love: watching YouTube videos from brand accounts. Because, well, people basically hate ads. Telkomsel got a lot of negative feedback on its social media platforms, including YouTube. How could we increase brand love for Telkomsel and introduce its products in a fun way?

Idea

Rather than creating generic ads, we created a comedy show with product placements so seamless viewers forgot they were watching content from a brand. Introducing Candaan Ruang Tengah (The Living Room Laughter), Telkomsel’s original comedy series on YouTube. The show mixes talk show, game show, and variety show fun in one hilarious package. Featuring special guests and laughing at the struggles of everyday life, Candaan Ruang Tengah’s product placement is so seamlessly interwoven into each episode that viewers are entertained without realizing they’re getting a promo.

Results

Candaan Ruang Tengah has been a hit, with nearly 70% positive feedback over the last two seasons. The show has racked up over 20 million organic views, attracted 37,000 new followers, and pulled in almost 231 million total views.

With more than 87% of viewers tuning in on mobile, we’ve successfully boosted Telkomsel’s brand love and built a warm connection with its audience. The show has become so popular that people upload clips of it voluntarily. Telkomsel’s brand love rose simply by giving people what they like: a little bit of laughter.