Top 10 Best Brand Viral Videos 2015 (Video)
December 21, 2015
As I put it in my book THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, viral isn’t a strategy—it’s an outcome.
While many people believe it’s a matter of simply posting a video and waiting for it to take off, success comes from share-worthy content backed by promotion—and plenty of it.
The problem with our 2015 list of favorites is that there was so much video that fit the description above that it’s hard to zero in on just 10 favorites. So out of easily two dozen brand videos that hit and stayed on our radar this year, here is an unusually imperfect breakdown of 10 that rose to the top.
(Though our annual list captures videos that generated massive numbers of online views, it reflects personal appeal, not literal rankings).
As in year’s past, a large number of our selections pull at the heartstrings. Others also made some of our other awards lists, most notably this year’s of Top 10 Prankvertisements. And a few won’t be appropriate for every person (or every setting).
But every one of them is worth at least one last look.
Yes, we’re suckers for patriotic branding. And yes, this Super Bowl spot from Jeep was not without some sniggering (Adweek was quick to point out similarities with the North Face spot that ran during the Super Bowl last year—right down to the soundtrack). It still works for us.
Athletes get to relive their childhoods with winter’s two most perfect words. A sure way to fire up your competitive spirit, even when it’s freaking freezing outside.
Always’ Effie-wining #LikeAGirl campaign’s summer 2015 entry. Not as good as the original “Like A Girl,” but still heroic.
7. HYUNDAI: “A MESSAGE TO SPACE’
Maybe we should call the Nazca Lines the NASCAR Lines. No, Hyundai’s not exactly going for racing glory here. But in an effort to highlight and humanize its innovative thinking, the brand is using synchronized driving to create markings that can only make sense from space. Nearly 70 million earthlings got the message.
6. SQUATTY POTTY: ‘THIS UNICORN CHANGED THE WAY I POOP’
It’s the “stool for better stools” – and it’s the latest potty humor-infused brand video from the team behind Poo Pourri’s mega hit “Girls Don’t Poop.” Over 50 million views later, this little brand that could has seen sales rise from $3 million last year to $15 million in 2015 (an appearance on NBC’s Shark Tank late last year didn't stink, either).
On the flipside of the “Girl Power” ethos of #LikeAGirl, this public service spot from Fan Page spot addresses male attitudes toward domestic violence in Italy on the heels of a UN report calling it “the most pervasive form of violence” in that country, and after Prime Minster Enrico Letta referred to the problem as “femicide.” Put on the spot, some young men school some other members of their gender on basic human decency.
4. BARBIE: ‘IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES’
Is it ironic or fitting that Barbie—a dichotomous figure that has always aspired to empower even while being seen by many to objectify—also made our list? In a year when an artificial intelligence-enabled "Hello Barbie" creeped out some parents (and child psychiatrists), it’s hard not to love this prank video that gets to the brand’s ambitions perfectly.
3. AD COUNCIL: ‘LOVE HAS NO LABELS’
Though it’s not exclusively about any one segment of the population, this video captures the spirit of summer 2015, when the US Supreme Court caught up with the rest of America in its collective declaration that love wins. It always does, even if it takes a very long time.
2. JOHN LEWIS: ‘MAN ON THE MOON’
In the UK, it has become an annual tradition to keep an eye out for the new holiday spot from retailer John Lewis. Even here in the US, this one has touched millions. That is, when it’s not being spoofed (with a mashup with this December's other big pop culture property, Star Wars, natch).
1. EXTRA GUM: ‘THE STORY OF SARAH & JUAN’
Who knew a gum commercial could pack as much narrative emotion as any of the year’s top movies into a two-minute video (at top)? Now that’s something to chew on. And in the spirit of giving a little extra, check out this BTS video of Haley Reinhart doing the Elvis cover. (You're welcome.)
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