YouTube Works Awards 2023

YouTube Works Awards 2023 is the world’s first advertising gala in a cinematic format, filmed and premiered in real-time in front of 500 of Spain’s most influential advertising professionals.

YouTube, the world’s leading entertainment platform, annually celebrates the YouTube Works Awards to recognize advertisers and agencies that have designed the most innovative, creative, and business-effective campaigns. They wanted to create an awards gala that moved away from the traditional format to which the industry in Spain is accustomed. The briefing we received was: “We want an anti-gala concept that embodies YouTube’s essence and surprises advertisers, media, and creative agencies.”
After the success of the YouTube Works Awards 2022, the challenge was to once again deliver a disruptive experience that would amaze advertising experts. The brand’s main objective is to establish the YouTube Works Awards as the most important advertising awards in Spain by creating such an impactful event that it becomes a must-attend annual reference, increasing the number of entries and generating “fear of missing out” for those who cannot attend.

We started with the idea that everything happening in the world is on YouTube. From movie trailers to last night’s game highlights or even the latest Oscars ceremony. This led to the concept “Everything Happens Inside,” under which we designed an award show with no traditional theater, no seating, no stage, no funny hosts, and no endless nomination lists.
Instead, we created a 60-minute live film, shot and premiered in real-time in front of 500 of the most influential people in advertising. No cuts, no mistakes.
Attendees could either watch what was happening live or the final film on the screens in YouTube Arena. This mirrored the magic of advertising — you can see what’s in front of you or enjoy the final product on screen, just like on YouTube.