Starting a new year is a good time to examine the winning campaigns from last year. The most compelling advertisements and videos are ones that have a strong story, humor, inspiration, and excitement. They build a bond with the audience, and inspire thoughts and action. It’s not easy to create a short video that engages audiences and inspires them to share the video and view it more than once, so it is worth examining the top ad videos from 2017.
Here are the most viral brand videos posted to YouTube in 2017. Combined, these five videos have generated more than 436 million views last year!
- Samsung India Service: 150+ million views
- Clash Royale: The Last Stand: 111+ million views
- Oreo’s Ping Pong Trick Shot: 100+ million views
- MISS DIOR – The new Eau de Parfum: 47+ million views
- Budweiser Super Bowl 2017 – Born the Hard Way: 28+ million views
Remember, these are the ads that people choose to watch. An algorithm factors in organic and paid views, watch time, and audience retention.
Which ads do you choose to watch online?
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Discuss the importance of branding and brand management. How do the videos fit into branding?
- Divide students into teams. Have each team analyze one of the following videos with respect to target market, key message, type of appeal, etc. All ads are available at: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/advertising-channels/video/youtube-leaderboard-year-end-2017/?&YTgenre=ads&ContentType=year-end-ads-leaderboard&feature=Inp-em-ad210-us-a-OT-OT&utm_medium=email-d&utm_source=newsletter&utm_team=youtube-usa&utm_campaign=20171206-youtube-usa-ytr-weekly-a&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTWpVeVkyWTRPRFUzWVRrMSIsInQiOiJTTEp1QVVWTGJKN1RzNmU1Y2tKclpOXC9rTDc4dmw1aG1tOXNqT3N4RWc2elRZUUtJNHNLWkRCUzVpRDlJU25pRUNCWFF5WFdwMmt1Rk5reWZKTXo4eE5xbjJYbUhrOE9ub2p4UXhaUGh6UnhudERDUEorMHVQUVdCSjJGUmpYeWcifQ%3D%3D
- When teams have completed this, have each team show the video and discuss their analysis with the rest of the class.
- What are the commonalities between the videos? What are the differences?
- What should other companies do to replicate the success?
Source: Think with Google. YouTube ads leaderboard: Global year-end 2017.
