Festival of Media Asia Names Youku "Best Contribution to a Campaign by a Media Owner"

BEIJING, Nov. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Youku Inc. (NYSE: YOKU), China's leading Internet television company ("Youku"), was named "Best Contribution to a Campaign by a Media Owner" by the Festival of Media Asia Awards on November 15. A panel of judges from companies and agencies including Unilever, Mindshare, Ikon Communications, Coca-Cola, Omnicom and Dentsu awarded the prize in recognition of Youku's work on the "11 Degrees New Media Film Project" campaign, which promoted the Chevy Cruze as a lifestyle brand to Youku's predominantly young, upwardly mobile audience.

The Festival of Media Asia held its inaugural event this year, extending the reach of the Festival of Media, a premier industry event started five years ago to a gala that celebrates creativity and innovation in traditional and new media. This year's event brought leading global and regional companies together to discuss the challenges and opportunities that characterize the Asian market. More than 400 companies and 200 brands submitted entries for the Festival of Media Asia Awards, resulting in a list of 81 nominees in 11 categories.

"Best Contribution to a Campaign by a Media Owner" is awarded in recognition of media owners' creative application of ideas and innovative strategies, creative thinking, and consumer insight to clients' advertising campaigns. Moove Media, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, Fox International Channels and JCDecaux Momentum Shanghai Airport Advertising were among the other nominees shortlisted for this year's award, and they worked on campaigns for clients including BBC Knowledge, Canon, TAG Heuer and Panasonic.

"We're honored to be recognized for the power of our new media platform," said Stella Pan, Vice President of Youku Original. "On '11 Degrees' we worked closely with young directors to produce content that resonated with our viewers in a way that traditional mass media couldn't have. For advertisers and filmmakers, we offer the opportunity to reach 300 million viewers across China, as well as powerful new-media marketing tools."

"As China becomes increasingly important for international brands, there's a growing need for advertising and media partners who grasp the intricacies of the market," Ms. Pan continued. "China's growing internet audience is a natural complement to the traditional television audience. As a new media platform, Youku understands these viewers and offers them content targeted to their interests, and the flexibility to view it on their PCs, tablet computers, and mobile phones."

"11 Degrees" ran from August to November 2010, and was produced for Chevy Cruze by Youku Original. The campaign proved wildly popular, leading all Youku films by total video views (103 million), total comments (131,900), upvotes (1.1 million thumbs-up) and social media retweets (more than 26 million). Youku has worked before and since with a number of clients on campaigns leveraging its platform, including Philips, Lenovo, GM and P&G. The "One Step Away" campaign for Philips this summer has been viewed nearly 75 million times to date.

Youku Original is a key part of Youku's content strategy, which features a combination of licensed professional content, in-house production from Youku Original, and user-generated content.

About Youku

Youku Inc. is China's leading Internet television company. Our Internet television platform enables users to search, view and share high-quality video content quickly and easily across multiple devices. Youku, which stands for "what's best and what's cool" in Chinese, is the most recognized online video brand in China. Youku's American depositary shares, each representing 18 of our Class A ordinary shares, are traded on NYSE under the symbol "YOKU."

For more information, please contact:

Media Relations:
Jean Shao
Director, International Communications
Youku.com Inc.
Tel: +86-10-5885-1881 x7128
Email: [email protected]

Investor Relations:
Ryan Cheung
Corporate Finance Director
Youku.com Inc.
Tel: +86-10-5885-1881 x6090
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Youku.com Inc.