Google Hosts First YouTube Festival in Pakistan to Help Brands Drive Business Growth

Google has hosted Pakistan’s first YouTube Festival, bringing together brands, businesses, creators and marketing professionals in Karachi and Lahore to explore how digital video can support audience engagement and business growth.

The festival took place in Karachi on October 19 and Lahore on October 22. It highlighted Pakistan’s expanding YouTube ecosystem and the growing role of online video in brand building, customer acquisition and the creative economy.

The Karachi event opened with Coke Studio’s hit song Pasoori, which has surpassed one billion views on YouTube. Nearly 90% of its views came from more than 60 countries outside Pakistan, demonstrating the international reach of Pakistani music and culture.

Pakistan’s YouTube audience continues to expand

Google said around 60 million Pakistanis watch YouTube content. Pakistani channels uploaded 20 million hours of content over the past year, equivalent to 38 minutes of new content every second.

This growing content base offers advertisers opportunities to connect with audiences through entertainment, television dramas, music, educational videos and other interests.

“Pakistan is undergoing an unprecedented digital inflexion point, and YouTube sits at the very heart of this transformation,” said Farhan Qureshi, Cluster Director for Google Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Frontier Markets.

He said Google aims to make YouTube more relevant to local audiences by bringing together culture, creators and advertising tools that can help businesses turn digital engagement into sustainable growth.

Qureshi also pointed to the recent opening of Google’s first office in Pakistan as part of the company’s growing local presence.

The platform is also helping Pakistan’s entertainment industry reach large audiences. Mir Ibrahim Rahman, Chief Executive Officer of Geo Television Network, said the network had recorded 13 billion watch hours, with 20 dramas each crossing one billion views.

He described the figures as evidence of the global appeal of Pakistani storytelling and the opportunities digital platforms offer the country’s creative industry.

Brands use YouTube to connect with consumers

The festival highlighted how businesses are using YouTube to reach specific audiences and support commercial objectives.

Unilever’s Sunsilk used popular drama content to connect with Generation Z audiences. Meanwhile, Nestlé Everyday built its Ramadan campaign around food, entertainment and tailored Sehri and Iftar messaging.

According to the figures shared at the festival, Everyday’s Ramadan initiatives recorded 9.4% value growth and 4.8% volume growth. The campaign demonstrated how brands can connect with consumers during culturally important moments while pursuing measurable business outcomes.

Digital financial services provider easypaisa also shared its experience of using Google’s Demand Gen campaigns across YouTube and other Google platforms.

The campaigns targeted different audience interests, including sports and television dramas. A Google causal impact study estimated a 30% relative lift in app installs, equivalent to 1.3 million incremental installs.

Hani Hassan, Head of Growth and Analytics at easypaisa Digital Bank, said the collaboration helped the company measure the impact of its marketing investments beyond traditional performance metrics. He added that the approach supported app installations and customer engagement.

The examples reflected a central theme of the festival: advertisers can use video both to build brand awareness and to encourage measurable customer actions.

Creators become strategic brand partners

Creator partnerships were another major focus, with speakers discussing how businesses can work with creators whose content and audiences align with their objectives.

At the Lahore event, travel creator WildLens by Abrar discussed reaching Urdu- and Punjabi-speaking audiences across borders through travel storytelling. Menahil Temur, known for her Minoqtopus channel, shared how she uses in-depth video explanations to explore complex subjects.

Their experiences highlighted the role of distinctive voices in building engaged communities and creating connections between brands and audiences.

The sessions also brought together Unilever’s Humza Mahfooz in Karachi and Pepsi’s Ayesha Khan in Lahore. Discussions focused on balancing brand-produced material with creator-led content and supporting campaigns through paid media.

Google also highlighted Creator Media Bundles, Partnership Ads and Demand Gen as tools that can help advertisers extend creator collaborations, increase content reach and connect audience discovery with customer acquisition.

Digital growth creates opportunities for Pakistan

The festival comes as Pakistan’s digital market continues to expand. Google cited Pakistan Telecommunication Authority figures indicating that 70% of Pakistanis have access to the internet. It also described Pakistan as the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market based on three-year compound annual growth.

For local businesses, the combination of a growing online audience, popular entertainment and creator-led content creates new ways to reach consumers. However, turning that reach into commercial results depends on choosing relevant audiences, developing effective campaigns and measuring performance.

Through its first YouTube Festival in Pakistan, Google brought advertisers, creators and businesses together to explore these opportunities. The event underscored the increasing importance of digital video in marketing strategies and the potential for Pakistani content to reach audiences both at home and abroad.