4 of the 10 Most Shared Video Ads of 2014 Are From World Cup
The latest data from Unruly shows that World Cup video ads have done extremely well, taking four of the top 10 spots. Meanwhile, only one ad from this year's Super Bowl cracked the top 10.
Although we’re just halfway through 2014, it’s already looking like a World Cup year for social video marketing, with four of the top 10 commercials coming from FIFA sponsors or brands looking to take advantage of the world’s biggest soccer tournament. That’s according to new data from Unruly, which has created a list of the top 10 most popular online commercials of the year (so far!).
Dubbed by many as the unofficial World Cup theme song, Danone yogurt brand Activia’s musical collaboration with Colombian pop princess Shakira, “La La La (Brazil 2014),” takes the number one spot with more than 4.5 million shares. It’s also the fourth most shared ad of all time.
Unruly calls Danone’s new dance-themed creative “trackvertising” because it blurs the thin red line between music videos and advertising. Other examples of “trackverts” include: Fiat and J.Lo’s “Papi,” the Kia Hamsters and Lady Gaga, Arianna’s “Sexy People (The Fiat Song) featuring Pitbull,” H&M’s Beyoncé as Mrs. Carter, and the Volvo XC60 ad with Swedish House Mafia. Such a move is not surprising. Music videos are by far the most shared video content on the Web, after all, so it’s only natural that brands looking to embrace their roles as content creators are mixing the two.
Two Nike ads, “Winner Stays” and “The Last Game,” also make it onto the top 10, while official sponsor Castrol is eighth. Like Danone, Nike is not one of the official sponsors of the FIFA World Cup. As ClickZ reported last month, brands not officially affiliated with the World Cup had generated 71 percent of the online shares at that point in time.
Other brands to appear in the top 10 most shared ads of the year (so far) include 20th Century Fox, Cardstore, Thai Life Insurance, and clothing brand Wren.
Top 10 Most Shared Ads of the Year (So Far)
1. Activia: Shakira – La La La (Brazil 2014) ft. Carlinhos Brown: 4,546,532 shares.
2. 20th Century Fox: Devil’s Due – Devil Baby Attack: 2,118,634 shares.
3. Budweiser: Puppy Love: 1,940,181 shares.
4. Cardstore: World’s Toughest Job: 1,838,468 shares.
5. Wren: First Kiss: 1,511,985 shares.
6. Nike Football: Winner Stays: 1,239,961.
7. Thai Life Insurance: Unsung Hero: 1,120,255 shares.
8. Castrol: Castrol Footkhana – 1,014,759 shares.
9. Nike Football: The Last Game: 927,633 shares.
10. Save the Children: Most Shocking Second a Day Video: 910,559 shares.
Meanwhile, only one ad from this year’s Super Bowl makes it onto the list – Budweiser’s “Puppy Love” ad. It’s further evidence that Super Bowl sponsors need to raise their game next year. Despite an overall rise in shares of branded videos (by 22 percent), this year’s game was the first time in the sporting event’s history that shares of online ads went down – 29 percent from 2013. The top 40 World Cup ads also attracted almost three times more online shares and views than the top 40 commercials from Super Bowl 2014.
Methodology
The data was extracted on July 9, 2014, using Unruly Analytics and the Unruly Viral Video Chart, which cover 430 billion video views and are tracking 24 million shares per day. They rank videos by the number of shares they attract across Twitter, Facebook, and the blogosphere. Click here to see an Unruly Viral Video Chart of the top 10 ads.
