YouTube, Google AI push brands to chase flow state

Google and YouTube’s AI are reshaping connection, culture, and commerce.

At the event titled “UNMISSABLE: New Rules in the AI Era of Media,” executives laid out a single, urgent playbook for marketers: get consumers into the flow state, keep them there, and convert that sustained attention into long-term growth.

“YouTube has become the new TV for millions of Filipino people,” Prep Palacios, head of industries for Google Philippines, told the forum. “The new rule is to become unmissable.”

Palacios argued that the fusion of Google AI and YouTube’s massive reach gives marketers the tools “to create at a scale and speed we never imagined.”

Flow as business strategy

Speakers defined the flow state as a rare moment when a viewer is fully immersed and positively engaged with content — a state that makes audiences more receptive to brand messages and more likely to act.

“We want to be in the flow state. We want the viewers to be in the flow state,” Nikki Del Gallego, data and insights lead for Google Southeast Asia, said during the discussion.

Del Gallego cited a Kantar study showing that Filipino viewers say YouTube makes them feel good about the time they spend on the platform — framing that sentiment as the difference between a brand that connects and a brand that distracts.

“To truly make that deep connection that is more valuable, you have to go into that flow state and win them there. And that is where we need to rewrite the rules in marketing,” she said.

Del Gallego pointed to reach and depth: YouTube now reaches an estimated 93 percent of the Philippine online population, with 88 percent penetration even in rural Visayas and Mindanao. Filipinos spend an average of four hours daily on YouTube, she said — a scale of attention advertisers can no longer ignore.

Fueling consumers, sustaining culture

The Google-YouTube playbook centers on three business levers: connect, commerce, and culture. Connect is about capturing quality attention at moments of intent. Commerce uses AI to shape the entire purchase journey, making a sale feel inevitable rather than accidental. Culture focuses on building fandom — not chasing every new trend, but sustaining a lasting “fire” of community around a brand.

“Fueling the consumer engine pays off,” Del Gallego said. She described how AI can turn intent into action: better targeting, optimized creative, and automated scale that together increase the odds of conversion and repeat purchase.

Case studies presented at the event underlined that thesis. McDonald’s Philippines used YouTube placements such as Living Room Takeover and pause ads to reach audiences in meal-deciding moments, lifting average daily sales by 46 percent and search volume for brand terms by 35 percent. Chowking’s YouTube-first strategy delivered a 138 percent spike in search interest and about 60 percent reach among 25–44-year-olds in six weeks — results that translated into offline sales.

“Building a cultural fire pays off,” Del Gallego said. She warned against chasing every spark of virality. “In this AI era of media, the risk we don’t want to fall into is when consumers might feel a fatigue from fast changes or trends that are going way above what they can truly absorb.”

The longer game, she added, lies in creator partnerships and community building: creators stoke fandom by delivering authentic, trust-based content that keeps viewers returning — and that longevity is rewarded by YouTube’s algorithms.

Creative and media converge

Ben Jern Loh, country video lead for the Philippines and Malaysia, stressed how AI simplifies what used to be a manually intensive planning process. “Gone are the days, the old playbook was manually getting into the formats that you need to allocate for different budgets. With AI we have simplified things tremendously,” he said.

Kantar’s recent research amplified that point. The firm’s blueprint for brand growth argues that salience, difference, and meaning cannot be built by media or creative alone. A LinkedIn-hosted discussion with Kantar and Google executives cited examples where shifting investment to creator-led formats and context testing produced double-digit lifts in awareness and consideration.

What this means for brands

For marketers, the implications are practical and profound. First, aim for flow: design content and placements that match consumer intent and emotional state. Second, lean into AI to shorten testing cycles and scale what works. Third, build culture, not noise: invest in creators and community to sustain long-term engagement rather than chasing one-off virality.

Palacios framed the opportunity as a moment of agency: “For us, as brand builders and business leaders, this isn’t just a technological shift. It is arguably the most exciting time to be in the industry.”

The new rules demand more creativity, tighter integration between media and creative, and a willingness to trade quick metrics for durable business value. For brands that can master flow, AI and YouTube offer a pathway from fleeting attention to lasting growth.