They just did it.
Google recently released its review of the top 2014 ads* that resonated with people on YouTube, and Nike was responsible for the top two pieces—which garnered a total of 171.7 million views.
Three beer ads—Budweiser’s“ Puppy Love” and “Global Be(er) Responsible Day, and Heineken’s “Routine Interruptions”—were featured in the top 10, which can be seen below.
The 2014 ads leaderboard:
- Nike Football “Winner Stays”; 98.4 million views
- Nike Football “The Last Game”; 73.3 million views
- Budweiser “Puppy Love”; 53.4 million views
- Always “#LikeAGirl”; 53.3 million views
- Devil Baby Attack; 48.8 million views
- Duracell “Trust Your Power”; 22.7 million views
- Galaxy Note 4 “Then and Now”; 22.1 million views
- P&G “Thank You, Mom”; 19.7 million views
- Global Be(er) Responsible Day; 19.5 million views
- Heineken “Routine Interruptions”; 13.8 million views
In addition, the review also revealed that people were watching more, and longer, ads on YouTube in 2014; the top ads are nearly 50% longer this year, but folks watched them 50% more. More than one billion minutes of just the top 10 ads of 2014 were viewed. Those top 10 ads were viewed 425 million times, versus 200 million views in 2012 when the leaderboard was launched.
Some common themes of the top ads via the review include:
- Ads are getting longer. The length of ads on the user-generated, video-hosting site have increased from traditional 30-second spots to much longer videos that tell a story. The top 10 ads of 2014 averaged three minutes in length—more than five times the duration of a typical ad. The “Winner Stays”Nike football ad, which earned the No. 1 spot with 98.4 million views, clocks in at 4:12.
- Sporting events have gone YouTube. The Super Bowl, Olympics, and World Cup all had a big year on YouTube. Brands are increasingly using YouTube to reach fans before and after games; the top 10 Super Bowl and World Cup ads this year amassed 14 million hours of watch time, with 75% of that duration viewed either before or after the actual events.
- Creative collaborations commence. The review showed a dramatic rise in the number of brands collaborating with YouTube creators to provide original content.
With regards to trailers viewed, one highly anticipated film held all of the force. Star Wars was the fastest-rising trailer of the year after it notched 54 million views over the first seven days following its release. By comparison, Jurassic World and Avengers had 41 million and 48 million views, respectively, in their first seven days.
The 2014 trailers leaderboard:
- Fifty Shades of Grey; 67.42 million views
- Avengers: Age of Ultron; 64.9 million views
- Star Wars: Episode VII; 52.9 million views
- Jurassic World; 44.7 million views
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; 43.2 million views
- Furious 7; 37.9 million views
- Godzilla; 36.9 million views
- Lucy; 36.1 million views
- The Fault In Our Stars; 29.9 million views
- Call of Duty; 26.8 million views
*The YouTube Ads Leaderboard showcases the most creative ads that people choose to watch each month. The top ads list looks at videos that were promoted as an ad on YouTube. The top 10 ranking is determined by a methodology that factors in metrics including audience engagement (watch time, likes, shares), video views, and audience retention (how much of a video people watched).
