As consumers, we are exposed to literally hundreds of different messages and advertisements every single day. Many of these are forced upon us – we have no choice but to wade through the ad or video in order to get to our intended goal. But every now and then an advertisement grabs our attention to such an extent that we actually choose to watch it. We might even like it so much that watch it multiple times, or share it with friends, or post it on our own social media sites.
Google Insights has gathered the top 20 ads from 2012 that are the ones that fans themselves have chosen. The 2012 YouTube Ads Leaderboard lists the U.S. ads that have the most views. The list of companies in the top include: Old Spice, Nike, Pepsi, Volkswagen, Samsung, Audi, Chrysler, and others.
View the ads – how many can you recall seeing, and perhaps forwarded to your friends and neighbors?
(PS – My personal count is 13 ads, each viewed multiple times or shown to friends!)
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Show the site and a few of the videos to the class: http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/insights/featured/youtube-leaderboard-2012/
- Divide students into teams. Have each team select and analyze an advertisement on the list.
- What is the target market? What is the key message?
- How effective is the ad at getting the company’s brand and message across to viewers?
- Discuss the elements that have made the video appealing.
Source: AdWeek.com, 1/4/2013, Google Insights
