The A-Z Of YouTube
- Brand
- YouTube
- Year
- 2015
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Tech & Telecom
- Mechanic
- Quiz & Trivia
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Hook
Objective
YouTube's tenth anniversary needed a send-off that felt like a celebration, not a corporate recap. Capping a month-long "A to Z" editorial series with a playable quiz gave fans a reason to linger on the decade's culture rather than just read about it, and a homepage takeover turned the milestone into a fresh wave of traffic and sharing back to the platform.
Solution
The site opens on a title screen where players can first watch a pop-up-book style animated video running through the decade's iconic clips letter by letter, then hit PLAY to start the quiz. Each of the 26 rounds serves up a fill-in-the-blank line from a famous video — "Play him off, keyboard ___" — alongside four toy-like objects to choose from; the player drags the right one into a slot to answer. A correct drag triggers the actual source clip and awards a medal, and players can jump straight to any letter via an on-screen alphabet strip instead of playing in order. The session ends with a final score out of 100 once all 26 letters have been answered.
Results
Average engagement time exceeded 4 minutes, with the typical player working through at least 10 of the 26 questions. The accompanying YouTube homepage takeover drove more than 7.5 million clicks, and the anniversary video that opens the experience has drawn over 36 million views on YouTube.
- 1
The game opens on a title screen for YouTube's 10th-anniversary "A–Z" project, with an option to watch a companion video before playing.
- 2
The video shows an animated pop-up book that reveals, letter by letter, references to well-known YouTube videos and memes; finishing it leads into the quiz itself.
- 3
Each round presents a fill-in-the-blank line from a famous video's title or catchphrase, one for every letter of the alphabet across 26 rounds.
- 4
Instead of text choices, the player answers by dragging one of four illustrated toy-like objects into a slot to complete the phrase.
- 5
A correct drag confirms the match and plays the actual source video it references, such as Keyboard Cat; a wrong one costs nothing and can be retried as many times as needed before moving on with a "Next Question" prompt.
- 6
An alphabet menu lets the player jump to any letter's question directly, so the 26 rounds can be tackled out of order.
- 7
Progress through the rounds earns medals along the way.
- 8
After all 26 letters are answered, a final screen shows the player's total score, out of a maximum of 100 for a perfect run.
