Social media app Yubo launches first global ad campaign, with an eye on Australia

Mariam Cheik-Hussein
By Mariam Cheik-Hussein | 19 April 2021
 

Gen Z-focused social media app Yubo has launched its first global advertising campaign, with investment in Australia to boost local growth.

The platform says it has more than 40 million Gen Z users around the world, including 1.1 million in Australia.

Its new campaign, Friends, Not Followers, aims to push its image as a social media platform without the social pressure.

The global campaign includes investment in Australia, with Yubo saying it wants to boost the local growth it’s seeing. The campaign will run for two weeks in Australia with 175 out-of-home ads and 82 Xtrack TVs across major train stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.

Yubo has also partnered with livestreaming service Twitch to roll out digital advertisements across its platform. The roll out will see pre-roll advertisements, a homepage takeover and Show & Tell influencer program that will consist of a two-hour livestream with Twitch streamers that will engage with its community around the Yubo brand.

“I read that people with more than 200 followers are more likely to say they felt pressure about the way they look than those with fewer followers,” says Yubo founder and CEO Sacha Lazimi.

“This resonated with me - so unlike other social media apps, Yubo is urging our users to not be a follower and instead socialise online in an authentic way and create genuine online interactions without the pressure of ‘how many followers’ they have. Be a friend, not a follower.

“We’re not stopping at telling them though - watch this space for more initiatives over the coming months where we'll help users on the mission.”

Yubo, which launched in 2015, doesn’t have likes on its platform and its livestream technology allows users to jump into real-time livestream chat rooms and socialise with peers.

According to Yubo, between January and April this year, daily streaming increased by almost 4%. Its Gen Z audience is also actively engaging in streams with hand raising in lives increasing by over a fifth, 22%, and live screen sharing up by over a third,36%.

In Australia, daily streaming increased by over 9%, hand raising in lives increased by over 3% and live screen sharing increased by over a fifth, 22.83%.

“One of Yubo’s goals is to combat loneliness among teenagers and young adults, by enabling them to meet new people online and make friends,” Sacha says.

“As we seem to be on a steady path out of the pandemic it is an important time for us to be there to support young people through this stage - maybe even facilitate some real-life meetups when possible.”

 

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