MANILA, PHILIPPINES – In today’s fast-casual dining industry, cutting through the noise to drive both brand love and business results is no easy feat. But Chowking, one of the Philippines’ most beloved quick-service restaurant brands, has found the perfect recipe—one that combines powerful storytelling on YouTube with smart automation through Google’s Performance Max for Store Goals.
Faced with the challenge of reigniting brand preference and driving store traffic—particularly to promote drive-thru as another channel to enjoy the brand—Chowking partnered with Google and mHive (GroupM – A WPP Company) to craft a full-funnel marketing approach. The result? A campaign that moved beyond just views and awareness to deliver store visits and business outcomes.
A YouTube-First Strategy to Drive Demand
At the heart of Chowking’s campaign was a bold, strategic choice to go YouTube-first. The platform’s extensive reach, now surpassing linear TV, combined with its powerful storytelling, made it the perfect stage to re-engage customers and reignite brand momentum.
Using high-impact formats like the YouTube Masthead, along with AI-powered Video Reach and Video View Campaigns, Chowking ensured its message was seen by the right audience, at scale. Within just six weeks, the campaign reached more than 60% of the Philippine population and 80% of YouTube users.
The payoff? A 138% spike in search interest for Chowking during the campaign period—clear evidence that the videos didn’t just entertain, they sparked action.
Converting Engagement to Store Visits with Performance Max
To transform this surge in awareness into foot traffic, Chowking launched Google’s Performance Max for Store Goals. Performance Max is like a one-stop shop for digital ads—it uses Google’s AI to run and optimize campaigns across YouTube, Search, Maps, and the whole Google ecosystem, helping brands reach the right customers and drive real business results.
This AI-driven solution connects with the brand’s Google Business Profile and automatically delivers personalized ads across Search, Maps, YouTube, and other Google surfaces—optimizing in real time to drive branch traffic.
Performance Max provided a seamless bridge between digital engagement and real-world outcomes. By using tools like causal impact analysis and maps data analysis, Chowking was able to isolate the effect of the campaign and measure true business impact. The results were clear:
- 617% increase in impressions on Chowking’s Google Business Profile
- 19% increase in store navigations across more than 500 branches, nationwide!
This showed that Performance Max wasn’t just boosting visibility—it was directing people to Chowking locations and generating real, on-the-ground, and measurable results.
A Collaborative Recipe for Success
The campaign was made possible through close collaboration between Chowking, Google, and mHive. With mHive’s end-to-end campaign support and deep expertise in Google’s solutions, the team was able to plan, execute, and continuously optimize the campaign for maximum impact.
“YouTube gave us the expansive reach and emotional connection to reignite brand love, while Performance Max helped us translate that into real results in-store. This collaboration, together with Google and mHive enabled us to scale on digital engagement directly into physical branch traffic.” said Jeff Cape, Chowking’s Head of Digital & PR.
“The partnership between Google, Chowking, and GroupM allowed us to achieve both brand love and business results. The combination of a powerful storytelling, with the automation of PMax, we were able to seamlessly translate online engagement into real-world store visits, particularly promoting our drive-thru channel. It’s a testament to how strategic collaboration can deliver tangible and measurable business outcomes.” said Mica Esteban, Senior Global Media Manager for the Chowking Brand.
“Chowking’s success highlights the impact of digital marketing done right! By harnessing the expansive reach of YouTube and the precision of Google Performance Max, the campaign seamlessly transformed online engagement into store visits, delivering measurable business results for the brand,” said Prep Palacios, Head of Industries at Google Philippines.
Chowking’s success offers a compelling playbook for brands looking to go beyond reach, impressions, and clicks—and build campaigns that not only capture attention but also contribute to meaningful business growth.
