Viral Ad Network

The DRUM Viral Brand Chart – Top trending video ad campaigns

It’s been nearly 3 weeks since the original Harlem Shake video was first posted online, and the internet’s obsession with the new dance fad is certainly showing no signs of letting up. According to YouTube, over 12,000 Harlem Shake videos have been posted since the start of the month, collectively being viewed more than 44 million times.

Of course, brands are never far behind when a new online sensation sweeps across the web and this week’s viral chart is full of ads from companies using the memes popularity to boost brand awareness, with videos from the likes of Pepsi, Topshop and Sea World being just a few of the Harlem Shake ads to make it into todays listings.

Piggybacking on the popularity of trending viral content is becoming a popular marketing strategy and brands doing it well can benefit from a huge uplift in earned media. We saw a few instances in the viral chart last year, with 4GEE recreating the Fenton viral and Samsung using the Overly Attached Girlfriend meme to promote its products. More recently Abercrombie & Fitch, cashed in on the interwebs love of Call Me Maybe covers and just a couple of weeks back, Wonderful Pistachios teamed up with Gangnam Style’s Psy to bring the world a nutty South Korean rap.

Its not just brands jumping on the Harlem Shake bandwagon either, ad agencies all over the world have been churning out their own versions too! The shelf life of the Harlem Shake still remains to be seen, but something tells me we’ll be seeing more of it in the chart over the next few weeks!

Also going viral this week, and shooting right to the top of the most shared branded videos; Nivea puts unsuspecting airport passengers’ stress levels to the test with an elaborate prank to convince them that they’re wanted for questioning by the police. Created by ad agency, Felix & Lamberti, for Nivea Germany, the video has already clocked up nearly 3.5 million views and over 55 thousand shares and counting.

The DRUM UGC Chart – top trending homemade and entertainment virals.

Unsurprisingly, the world of user generated content is also still being dominated by the Harlem Shake, from New York flash mobs to underwater divers and dancing dogs, even home appliances are getting in on the action!

Squeak of the Week: This week’s #SqueakOfTheWeek entry is a bit of a litteral one – super cute, weird little desert frog, in at number 4 with over 70 thousand shares – (make sure you have the sound turned up for this one!)

For all of the chart news and the full run down of top videos on the internet this week, check out The Drum Viral Video Chart, powered VAN, or follow @JoinVan to stay up to date with the latest industry news and YouTube gossip.

The DRUM Viral Brand Chart – Top trending video ad campaigns

We’re just a few days into the aftermath of the US Super Bowl, arguably the biggest advertising platform in the world, and the Internet is filled with speculation about this year’s winners and losers. So it’s not surprising to see that the top 10 most shared videos in the Brand Chart this week are all American Super Bowl commercials.

Snatching the number 1 slot in the listings, and also the title of most shared ad of 2013, is The Clydesdales: “Brotherhood” by Budweiser, with over 10 million views and a share to view ratio of 1:20, (meaning 5% of people who watched the video online shared it on Facebook or Twitter).

Using the popular Budweiser Clydesdale horses to create an emotional connection with the audience, the spot centers on a horse breeder raising a newborn foal, telling a heart warming story of enduring friendship – cue lots of cute shots of the little animal learning to walk and bonding with its trainer. I have to admit that to my stereotypically cynical British eye the whole thing is a bit too OTT for my tastes (particularly the cheesy ending), but the brand certainly seems to have hit the viral sweet spot with American audiences. It’s still early days but it looks like the ad may well be on its way to surpassing Volkswagen’s The Force, (currently the most popular Super Bowl ad of all time), which despite being shared significantly more times during the past 2 years has a share to view ratio of just 1:39 (2.6%).

Entering the chart at number two and continuing the emotional theme set by Budweiser, further demonstrating that videos that elicit the strongest and most positive reactions tend to be the most shared, is the Ram Trucks Super Bowl commercial, with over 6 million views and 150,000 shares.

Juxtaposing the late radio host Paul Harvey’s famous “So God Made a Farmer” speech against an understated photographic montage, the brand managed to deliver a heart felt message about the role of the trucks in good old-fashioned American farm life. According to car-shopping site Autotrader.com the brand saw a 55% jump in search activity following the ad’s appearance.

At number 10 in the chart is Whisper Fight, Wieden+Kennedy’s 30-second spot for Oreo. The concept of the video revolves around the simple question: Which is better, the cookie or the cream? Of course there is no right answer and an argument ensues. The brand used the ad to drive its audience to Oreo’s Instagram profile, where they could vote for their favourite part of the cookie by hashtagging photos with “#cookiethis” or “#cremethis”.

The video itself doesn’t particularly stand out from any of the other Super Bowl offerings but I thought Oreo deserved a quick mention here because of its awesome reactive social media during the game. With a marketing team primed and ready to respond to live events as they happened, the brand stole the viral limelight with a quick thinking response to an unexpected power cut; tweeting “You can still dunk in the dark”.  According to Forbes.com, the tweet was retweeted almost 15,000 times. Oreo’s Twitter following, meanwhile, increased by about 8,000 and the blackout post garnered nearly 20,000 likes on Facebook.

It’s interesting to see a spontaneous bit of social media PR have so much impact on a brand campaign. The fact that Oreo had a team of writers and creatives working alongside their social media staff during the game certainly paid off, and while they couldn’t have predicted the power cut, they demonstrated how important it is that a brand be ready to react to anything, particularly during big public events.

Check out the full run down of the top 10 Super Bowl ads of 2013.

The DRUM User Generated Content Chart – Top trending homemade and entertainment virals.

Moving on from the Super Bowl and taking a quick look at what’s been trending in the world of entertainment and home made videos; a short animated film from Disney has shot straight to the top of the UGC chart this week with nearly a million shares. Paperman follows the story of a young man’s quest to meet the girl of his dreams, using a beautiful minimalist style and introducing a ground-breaking new technique that seamlessly merges computer-generated and hand-drawn animation. It’s nice to see Disney being a bit more experimental with it’s content, and it’s an unusual move from the company, (which is ordinarily highly protective over licensing and copy right), to make the whole film publicly available on YouTube.

Also trending; a new instalment from Simon’s Cat, Sesame Street does Downton Abby and two men experience childbirth (yes you heard me right!). Plus if you are looking for your #SqueakOfTheWeek dose of cute, check out puppy in shoes!

For all of the chart news and the full run down of top videos on the internet this week check out The Drum Viral Video Chart, powered VAN, or follow @JoinVan to stay up to date with the latest industry news and YouTube gossip.