YouTube Offline's promise: buffering will no longer be cause for suffering

YouTube has rolled out a film to promote its latest offline feature. The film has been conceptualised by Lowe Lintas + Partners and is running on the social video platform.

 

The film takes a look at the 'head spinning' ache caused by buffering, when one attempts to watch a video online.  The film features people from all walks of life spinning their head (in a motion similar to that of the YouTube buffering circle) when impeded by slow data connections as they try to watch YouTube videos. The film cycles through travelers, cricketers, fishermen and workers.

 

Accompanied by a song which questions, “Why does this thing atke” (with stops), it addresses the problem of buffering issues in India and offers YouTube Offline as a remedy. The film ends with the message, “Video chale bina atke” (The video plays without stopping).

    

Sandeep Menon, director, marketing, Google India, said, “Indians love watching videos online, and YouTube is the go-to destination for any video content online in India. We wanted to offer our users a great new way to enjoy their favourite content without having to worry about poor data connections and high cost of data. That’s where YouTube Offline feature plays an integral role and allows users to access content at their own pace. We are excited with the way our new film has turned out and hope that the audiences will relate to the common issue we all face on our mobile phones and embrace the offline way to enjoy YouTube.”

 

Shriram Iyer, executive director, Lowe Lintas, added, “YouTube, with its Offline feature, has made the experience even richer. Watching videos online comes with a glitch called 'buffering'. The stalling of a video spoils the experience. The idea really stems from there‎. Our team explored the idea of visually exploring the 'buffering' graphic, in a symbolic manner. Human heads rolling in circles, in a way, aping the buffering sign going round and round, was our comic tribute to the problem all of us face every day while watching videos online. The commercial takes a potshot at the problem and then presents YouTube Offline as the solution to this daily grievance.”

 

Naveen Gaur, president, Lowe Lintas Delhi, said, “The fun of watching any online video gets killed because of slow data speed that leads to buffering. This incredible new feature in the YouTube app has put an end to this problem. Our attempt was to keep the communication very simple yet extremely interesting. By highlighting this biggest pain point, we wanted to leave behind a clear message for the users that now they can get buffering out of their life and enjoy their YouTube videos non-stop, whenever, wherever and as many times as they want to.”

 

Credits 

 

Client: Google India

Creative agency: Lowe Lintas + Partners

Creative: Amer Jaleel, Shriram Iyer, Arko Provo Bose, Manzoor Alam, Anshul Nagpal

Account management: Naveen Gaur, Nikhil Mahajan, Dallbir Singh, Naman Pal

Planning: Anurag Prasad, Sumant Bhattacharya

Production house: Chrome Pictures

Director (film): Amit Sharma

Producer: Prafull Sharma, Azad Anesh