Monthly Archives: January 2019

by | Thursday, January 24, 2019 · 7:53 am

YouTube Ads Leaderboard: 2018

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 2018.

Here are the most viral brand videos posted to YouTube in 2018. Combined, these top five videos generated more than 172 million views last year!

  1. Amazon – Alexa Loses Her Voice (50+ million views)
  2. YouTube – Music (39+ million views)
  3. OPPO F7 (India)– Real Support Makes Real Hero (31+ million views)
  4. Nike – Dream Crazy (27+ million)
  5. Turkish Airlines – Safety Video with the LEGO Movie Characters (25+ million)

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 watch online?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the importance of branding and brand management. How do the videos fit into branding?
  2. Divide students into teams. Have each team analyze one of the following videos with respect to target market, key message, type of appeal, etc.
  3. All ads are available at: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/advertising-channels/video/youtube-leaderboard-year-end-2018/
  4. When teams have completed this, have each team show the video and discuss their analysis with the rest of the class.
  5. What are the commonalities between the videos? What are the differences?
  6. What should other companies do to replicate the success?

Source:  Think with Google. YouTube ads leaderboard: Global year-end 2018.

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by | Tuesday, January 22, 2019 · 6:49 am

The Year in Google Search – 2018

It’s important for marketers to keep current on topics of interests and trends around the world. This research gives us a good idea of what people are thinking, and what they like and need. Often, past trends can also be predictors of the future.

What did the world search for in 2018? Well, besides our usual searches for love, the meaning of life, and how to vote, the citizens of the world used Google’s search engine to keep current on topics including sports, celebrities, world events, food, entertainment, and more.

The lists are not only tracked globally, they are also tracked on an individual country basis. Globally, some of the most searched for topics included the World Cup, Meghan Markle, Sylvester Stallone, Tristan Thompson, Avicii, Black Panther, Demi Lovato, Royal Wedding, election results, and Hurricane Florence.

Top searches in the U.S. also included the keto diet and unicorn cake (yes, it’s on the list). Australia was interested in bitcoin, and Canadians queried about how many ends there are in curling (ten).

Google processes two-out-of-three Internet queries each day. These queries give marketers a good snapshot of trends around the world.

Take a look – which of these topics did you search for in 2018?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Before showing the Google results, poll students as to what they think the top searches were in 2018. Why those topics?
  2. Next, show the Google site: https://trends.google.com/trends/yis/2018/GLOBAL/
  3. Discuss the importance of market research. What are sources that can be used? Why is tracking trends important?
  4. Divide students into teams and have each team examine a different Top 10 List topic. What are the trends from that topic?
  5. How can these trends be used to develop new products?
  6. Debrief the exercise by listing the ideas from each team.

Source:  Google Trends. Year in search 2018.

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by | Friday, January 18, 2019 · 7:45 am

Facebook Year in Review – 2018!

There has been increasing criticism of the use of social media, particularly in politics, but nonetheless, social media also helped recognize and promote positive events as well.

One of the best things about the end of the year is the opportunity it gives us to reflect on the past, while we prepare for the year ahead. In the spirit of reflection, Facebook released its summary of the world’s top moments and events that generated the most buzz in 2019.

Among the top news and issues of 2018:

  • International Women’s Day – generated a wide-ranging discussion about issues, causes, and topics that impact women around the globe.
  • March for Our Lives – spear-headed by survivors of the Parkland, Florida school shooting generated action around the world, with more than 1 million people interested and more than $2.5 million raised through Facebook fundraisers.
  • Political engagement – the U.S. Midterm Elections and the Brazilian Presidential election were topics of intense focus and conversation about politics and voting around the world.
  • Sports – The World Cup engaged 383 million soccer fans and Super Bowl 52 engaged another 62 million people.

The top moments of were measured by how frequently a topic was mentioned in a single day on Facebook made between January 1 and November 11, 2018.

Which national and global events did you follow and share last year?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the importance of market research. What are sources that can be used? Why is tracking trends important?
  2. Bring up the site and show the video: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/12/facebooks-2018-year-in-review/
  3. Divide students into teams and have each team examine a different Facebook topic.
  4. What are the trends from that topic?
  5. How can these trends be used to develop new products?
  6. Debrief the exercise by listing the ideas from each team.

Source: Neman, S. (6 December 2018). Facebook’s 2019 year in review. Facebook.

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