At the end of each year, we look back to determine what we’ve learned about branded video. But why wait an entire year to start learning about what leads to branded video success?
Less than two months in to 2014 and we’ve already made our way through two major media events – the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics – and we’ve developed a good understanding of what consumers want to watch in 2014.
What we’re seeing, above all else, is that consumers are drawn to a videos that make a deep, emotional connection. We saw the beginning of this trend last year when Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches became the most viral branded video of the year with its powerful message. Brands took note of the buzzworthiness of this type of emotional content in 2013 and have inundated us with it in 2014, and with great success.
The 2014 Super Bowl may be the sweetest game in history. Gone was the hard-core, knee-slapping comedy, replaced with light laughs and ads that brought viewers to the edge of tears. Sweet and sincere campaigns like Chevy’s Life drove viral viewership and sharing of Super Bowl campaigns to unprecedented levels. And the trend continued into the Winter Olympics, where campaigns like P&G’s Proud Sponsor of Moms took the gold medal with a tearjerker of a video.
But heartfelt messaging isn’t the only trend we are seeing this year. Here are five other trends that are making consumers click play in 2014:
Dogs are a viewer’s best friend
Budweiser’s Super Bowl campaign Puppy Love has garnered 52.8 million views since it was released in late January. While the fact that it was a sequel to another successful Super Bowl campaign helped spike its views, but the real secret to its success is simple: puppies.
Dogs – and puppies in particular – drive massive viewership and sharing online. You need look no further than a publication like Buzzfeed to see how cute animals engage viewers and encourage sharing. To that point, Budweiser isn’t the only brand to have success with dogs this year: Audi generated 15.5 million views with Doberhuahua; Subaru’s adorable family of retrievers, The Barkleys, accumulated 3.9 million views; and McVities’ Sweeet, garnered more than 2.2 million views.
Double the celebrities, double the views
Celebrity campaigns are always popular and bring in lots of views. And some of the most popular celebrity campaigns of all time – like Turkish Airlines’ The Selfie Shootout – have featured more than one famous face. The use of multiple celebrities does two things – it allows brands to reach different demographics with one piece of creative and it creates more buzz and weight around the creative.
So maybe it’s not surprising that during this year’s Super Bowl there was an overwhelming trend of campaigns featuring more than one famous face. Bud Light had five celebrities in its campaign, Jaguar had three, and Hyundai, Ford and Volkswagen each featured two in their campaigns. And all of those campaigns generated views above 10 million.
Patriotism tugs at the heartstrings
While Budweiser induced a collective “awww” with Puppy Love, it elicited a far deeper emotion with its other Super Bowl campaign, A Hero’s Welcome. No matter how many times you’ve watched the campaign, it’s hard not to tear up as that young soldier arrives home after his tour of duty.
Patriotism is a hard emotion to evoke effectively. The trick – one that Budweiser has mastered – is subtlety and authenticity. The brand hit a similar note of patriotism and reverence with its 2002 Super Bowl ad that commemorated September 11th, which is now one of the most beloved campaigns of all time. Coca Cola and Chevy are other brands to use patriotism effectively this year.
Nostalgic characters get people clicking
One of the biggest hits of 2013, Volvo Trucks’ Live Test, featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Following that example, we are already seeing that many of the most viral celebrity campaigns of 2014 star celebrities that had their heyday back at least one decade prior.
We’ve already seen two campaigns with Arnold Schwarzenegger totaling more than 45 million views, as well as spots starring Richard Lewis, Carmen Electra, Sarah McLachlan and John Stamos, among others. Radio Shack’s Super Bowl campaign featured a host of 1980s stars including Hulk Hogan, Erik Estrada, Dee Snider and ALF. The virality of these campaigns – and the increase in spots using stars of yesteryear – demonstrates how nostalgia plays to our deepest emotions.
Brands that stand for something getting standing ovations
The Winter Olympics was not shy of controversy. And while major advertisers stuck to their traditional messaging of glory and inspiration, the smaller brands stole the spotlight by taking a stand on the biggest issue of the day – gay rights.
The Canadian Institute of Diversity’s Luge, for example, made fun of Russia’s anti-gay propaganda laws by showing that the games have always been “a little bit gay.” Of the 8 million views it earned, more than 2 million were the result of user-uploaded copies, showing how much the content had engaged the viewers. In comparison, user-uploaded content for P&G’s Olympics campaigns totaled 30,000 views, despite the fact that its total views were in excess of 40 million.
These six creative trends will drive branded video viewership throughout the rest of the year, especially during the World Cup and holiday seasons. But it’s important to remember that no matter what creative attributes a video possesses – celebrities or animals – or emotions it invokes – nostalgia or patriotism – or social debate it draws on, the key to its success always lies in the strength of its story. A great story will find an audience whether or not it has a famous athlete or shows a litter of puppies…although puppies never hurt.
