BEIJING, July 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Contributing
to the growing enthusiasm over the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympic
Games (the "2012 Games"), Youku Inc., China's leading Internet television company
(NYSE: YOKU) ("Youku") yesterday aired "The 727 Cycling Team," the
fourth in a hit series of five micro-movies telling the stories of
"Ordinary Olympians" -- ordinary people whose extraordinary
experiences reflect the Olympic spirit. "Ordinary Olympians"
debuted on April 15 as part of
Youku's "Our Olympics" campaign, and has since been viewed a total
of more than 24 million times. More than 93,000 comments to date
have been left by viewers with whom the short, heartwarming movies
struck an unexpected chord.
Drawing on its tradition of grassroots engagement, Youku and the
sponsor Yili chose to highlight unconventional athletes for
"Ordinary Olympians." The first of the micro-movies, "Happy
Backpackers," introduces Zhang Guangzhu and Wang Zhongjin, an
elderly couple who have backpacked their way through 46 countries
on seven continents since they first set out from home in 2008, the
year of the Beijing Olympics.
The penultimate episode of the series, "The 727 Cycling Team,"
tells the story of seven Chinese people traveling to London by bicycle from Kunming in southwestern
China. None of the amateur
cyclists, with ages ranging from 20 to 60, had ever left
China before. If all goes well,
they will arrive in London on
July 27, in time for the opening of
the 2012 Games. The episode debuted to 1.9 million views within a
day of its online premiere.
Continuing with the theme of grassroots participation and
leveraging its powerful media platform, Youku is also calling on
its 300 million viewers to share their own sports-related stories
for "Our Olympics" (http://sports.youku.com/together/), an
overarching campaign challenging viewers to bring Olympic values to
their everyday lives. The campaign (of which "Ordinary Olympians"
is a part) has spread rapidly across Chinese social media, and
offers weekly prize drawings as incentives for the week's
most-retweeted videos.
"'Our Olympics' is a textbook example of the kind of branding
communications that Youku excels at," said Dong Yawei, Youku's
senior VP of Sales. "By combining emotionally gripping stories,
professionally produced content and engaging online presence, Youku
continues to win the hearts of its viewers."
"For Yili, the Olympics are about more than just the competition
between athletes," said Li Dan,
executive director of corporate marketing at Yili. "They're a
reminder of how important health and nutrition are for everyone,
whether they're on the racing track in London or on a basketball court in
Beijing. Yili's mission is to help
our customers lead happy, healthy lives, and with 'Ordinary
Olympians' we're proud and privileged to be highlighting people
doing exactly that."
Youku accepted original viewer uploads until June 30, after which it reviewed the
user-contributed videos and selected representative viewers as
subjects for a second line of micro-movies telling their
stories. The final episode of "Ordinary Olympians," will air
later this July. The subjects of the micro-movies will be featured
as in print ads on 300 London double-decker buses during the
Games.
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 Inc.
Tel: +86-10-5885-1881 x7128
Email: shaodan@youku.com
Investor Relations:
Ryan Cheung
Corporate Finance Director
Youku Inc.
Tel: +86-10-5885-1881 x6090
Email: ryan.cheung@youku.com
SOURCE Youku Inc.