Top 10 YouTube adverts

YouTube recently announced its Top 10 list of the most watched video adverts for 2016. The ranking is determined by calculating the number of views within the country, the view rate (how much of an ad people choose to watch), and the percentage of organic views versus paid views, it says.

Topping the list was Axe’s “Find your Magic” with 1.65m views. It was followed by Fanta’s #FantaTastesLike: My Fanta Epic Taste Jam, with Knorr’s “Love at First taste” coming in third place.

Redzone spoke to Yellowwood’s Andy Rice about what made these ads so popular.

There is one common thread that links all these ads, Rice says, and that is that above all else, they are entertaining. That they happen to be advertising is secondary to everything else. In a world that is clogged with the clutter of brands competing against each other for their share of consumers’ very limited attention, the secret is not to add to the clutter, which is what these ads have achieved, he says. Quoting advertising innovator Howard Gossage, Rice explains that people don’t read (or in this case, watch) ads. They read – or view – what interests them and in some cases, these happen to be ads.

Most of the ads on the Top 10 list are not conventional in structure or duration and most of all, they are not hard-sell advertising, Rice observes. They have all taken a certain insight and built a story around it. For example, Axe’s “Find your Magic” pokes fun at the stereotypes around what models “should” look like, which allows the typical, everyday person to relate to the brand.

Perhaps the biggest link between these ads and the success they have enjoyed is courage, Rice maintains. Not only are the ideas brave and different, these ads have resisted the pressure to throw in obvious brand information that would change the tone of the advert, and this is what the SA public has responded to.

Rice believes the key to putting out brand communication that receives a positive response is not to think like an advertising creative, but rather like a genuine entertainer.

The full list of the top 10 most-watched ads for 2016 is:

1.       AXE SA–   Find your magic - 1.65m views

2.       Fanta  –   #FantaTastesLike : My Fanta Epic Taste Jam - 1.45m views

3.       Knorr  –   Love at first taste - 1.4m views

4.       Always  –   #Like a girl - Keep playing (20”) - 1.35m views

5.       Coca-Cola SA  –   Brotherly Love #EnjoyTheFeeling - 1.34m views

6.       Dove  –   How old are you? - 1.25m views

7.       LUX  –   She who dares - 1.16m views

8.       Nedbank  –   Personal Loan Coach Dingaan Video - 1.13m views

9.       Old Spice SA  –   Block, Block, Block Block Odours for 48 Houuuuuuuuurs! - 1.11m views

10.   MTN SA  –   #MyNightShift - 1m views

The big take-out: Yellowwood’s Andy Rice believes the success of YouTube’s Top 10 most watched ads is that consumers responded to their entertainment value. That these videos were ads was secondary.