ZILO Case Study: 7.9% Ad Recall Lift From a One-City YouTube Plan

Three times. That is how much more likely people who saw ZILO’s YouTube ads were to search for the brand, according to a Google case study published this year. ZILO, a Mumbai fashion app that promises delivery within 60 minutes, got there with one city, two campaign types and a frequency target. This ZILO case study breaks down what it ran, what the numbers mean in rupees, and the parts a smaller Indian brand can copy this month.

What did ZILO actually run on YouTube?

ZILO ran two layers in Mumbai only. Video reach campaigns with bumper and non-skippable ads built repeated exposure so people remembered the name. Demand Gen campaigns then went after high-intent shopper cohorts to turn that memory into app installs and orders. Google lists the primary objective as online sales.

The challenge, as Google’s write-up frames it, was ad fatigue in a crowded regional market and the need to reach new urban audiences. ZILO is fighting for the same Mumbai phone screens as big fashion marketplaces and every quick-commerce app.

Context matters here. ZILO was founded by Padmakumar Pal (co-founder and CEO) and Bhavik Jhaveri (co-founder and CIO), both ex-Flipkart and Myntra. In early 2026 it raised $15.3 million in a Series A led by Peak XV Partners, about ₹140 crore as YourStory reported it, to expand beyond Mumbai. It lists more than 200 fashion brands, with home trials and instant returns.

What do a 7.9% ad recall lift and 3x Search Lift mean?

A 7.9% absolute ad recall lift means that, in Google’s survey, 7.9 more people in every 100 exposed users remembered the ad than in an unexposed control group. The 3x relative Search Lift means exposed users searched for ZILO three times as often as similar people who did not see the ads.

Absolute and relative lifts are not the same thing, and agency decks blur them all the time. Absolute is percentage points. Relative is a multiple of the baseline. A 3x relative lift on a tiny baseline can still be a modest number of searches.

Our maths: what 7.9 points looks like in Mumbai

We translated the recall figure into people. These are illustrations of the percentage, not ZILO’s actual reach, which Google did not publish.

For a single-city app, 39,500 extra people who now know your name is a pool your Demand Gen and Search campaigns can work on. That is the whole logic of ZILO’s plan.

Buy memory first, then buy the click. A city brand that skips the first step pays for it in every CPC.

Why does a one-city YouTube plan beat a national one for quick commerce?

A quick-commerce brand can only sell where it delivers, so every impression outside its delivery zone is wasted. Concentrating budget on one city lets a modest spend hit each target viewer several times a week, which is what recall needs. A national plan with the same money spreads too thin to be remembered anywhere.

Pal put the result in one line in the case study: YouTube’s combined video strategy “redefined our growth strategy.” He credits coupling high-frequency reach formats with Demand Gen for the Share of Search jump.

Investors are betting on the same city-by-city behaviour. Kriti Gupta, Vice President at Peak XV Partners, said in the funding announcement reported by YourStory that Indian customer preferences “are evolving quickly”. Speed is the product. The ads have to make that promise memorable in the exact postcodes where it is true.

How do you set up a target frequency campaign in Google Ads?

In Google Ads, create a Video campaign with the objective “YouTube reach, views, and engagements”, choose the Video reach subtype, then pick Target frequency. Set a weekly target between 2 and 7, or a monthly target between 4 and 12. Run it at least 7 days; Google says flights of 2 to 4 weeks work best.

We followed Google’s current help pages, checked on 12 November 2026. Here is the build for a single-city brand.

1. Start the campaign. Campaigns menu > Campaigns > plus icon > New campaign. Choose “YouTube reach, views, and engagements” (the old “Awareness and consideration” objective was renamed).
2. Pick the subtype. Campaign type: Video. Subtype: Video reach. Way to reach your goal: Target frequency. Click Continue.
3. Choose formats. Under General settings, keep multi-format ads. Skippable in-stream, bumper, in-feed and Shorts are on by default. Tick non-skippable in-stream if you want the ZILO-style forced view (horizontal, 7 to 20 seconds).
4. Set the frequency. In the Target frequency drop-down choose Weekly and enter 3. Google’s own campaign group guidance recommends a weekly target of 3, citing research on frequency and ROI.
5. Lock the location. Target only the cities or pin codes you deliver to. Keep audience targeting wide inside that area; Google advises against narrow targeting and heavy ad scheduling for this subtype.
6. Load enough creative. Upload at least as many unique videos as your frequency number. Frequency 3 means three different ads, including a vertical cut for Shorts.
7. Bid and launch. Use the in-built bid suggestion so the bid can actually hit the frequency goal, then Create campaign. Avoid big mid-flight edits.

How much budget does a city-level YouTube reach plan need?

Budget equals people you want to reach, times weekly frequency, times weeks, divided by 1,000, times your CPM. Plug your own CPM from Reach Planner into that formula. The table below shows the maths at two example CPMs so you can see how fast cost scales.

Our maths: a four-week, frequency-3 flight

Impressions needed = audience × 3 per week × 4 weeks. The CPMs of ₹60 and ₹120 are example inputs to show the arithmetic, not quotes. Your Mumbai or Pune CPM will differ, so check it in Google Ads under Tools > Planning > Reach Planner before you commit.

Add 18% GST on Google Ads invoices when you budget. Then hold back a separate amount for Demand Gen; ZILO’s result came from running both, not reach alone.

Can a small brand measure brand lift without Google’s study?

Yes, roughly. Google’s Brand Lift needs a Google account representative and a minimum budget of $5,000 over 10 days for one question in India’s tier, about ₹4.7 lakh at ₹94 to the dollar. Smaller brands can track branded search in Search Console and Google Trends before, during and after the flight instead.

If you do qualify, the setup path is Campaigns > Experiments > Lift studies tab > plus button, then tick Brand lift. You can measure up to three metrics, such as ad recall, awareness and consideration. Google says a standard study completes in 3 to 14 days, and surveys take up to 48 hours to be approved.

What should you not copy from the ZILO case study?

Do not copy the confidence. This is a Google-published case study, so it is selected for success and checked by the seller of the media. It gives no spend, no flight dates, no CPMs and no orders or revenue. Recall and Share of Search are leading signals, not sales.

ZILO also had Series A money and an app category where a remembered name pays back quickly. A brand with one ₹1,500 product and thin margins may get more from Search and remarketing first. If your weekly budget cannot reach your core city audience three times, skip reach campaigns until it can.

Seasonality is the other trap. A lift measured during a festive month can flatter any plan. Compare like with like, and read our November core update tracker before blaming or crediting YouTube for any branded search swing this month.

What to do now

• Pull your Reach Planner CPM for your top delivery city and run our formula before asking for budget.
• Cut three distinct videos, including a 6-second bumper and a vertical Shorts version.
• Launch a four-week Video reach campaign with a weekly target frequency of 3, geo-fenced to where you deliver.
• Run a Demand Gen campaign alongside it, aimed at in-market shoppers in the same area. The PingTalks Google Ads guide covers the account basics.
• Log branded search weekly in Search Console from four weeks before launch, so you have a baseline to judge the flight.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Google: APAC YouTube 2026 case studies (ZILO)
• YourStory: ZILO raises $15.3M in Series A led by Peak XV Partners
• Google Ads Help: About Target frequency
• Google Ads Help: Video reach campaigns
• Google Ads Help: Set up Brand Lift
• Google Ads Help: Optimize reach and frequency with video campaign groups

Kousik BhattacharyaEditor, PingTalks

Digital Evangelist and Entrepreneur at Clickseek Digital. A results-oriented marketing leader with an 18+ year track record driving transformative growth for diverse global businesses. Expert in performance marketing, demand generation, customer acquisition, strategic partnerships, and market expansion within B2B SaaS, Consumer-Tech, Fintech, Travel/Hospitality, and CRM/ITES Solutions sectors. IIM alumnus with a strong analytical background and a string of accolades, including "Top 50 Most Influential E-Commerce Professional of India" and "Top 100 Digital Marketer of India."

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