The first Goviral Social Video Equity Report lists the top 100 brands in branded content in 2012. The report looks at how online video is being used by global brands as part of their marketing strategy. Brands were audited based on volume, total views and engagement for content uploaded to YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook in 2012. Goviral then evaluated the quality, purpose, innovation and audience relevance before calculating the final social video equity score.
Half of the audited brands uploaded more than 50 hours of branded content this year, and the top five received over 50 million views. It’s no surprise that Red Bull got the top spot, just ahead of Disney, Nike and Google. Red Bull clearly knows attraction beats distraction. To date they (Red Bull) have over 480 million views on their YouTube channel, so it’s safe to say they are NOT uploading commercials and behind the scenes of those commercials.
Some brands pushed out dozens of hours of content, and yet have less than a million views to show for it. The list also highlighted that there were still brands struggling to navigate the waters of content marketing. Other brands have managed to harvest less than 100 subscribers on their main social channels from the content they have created in 2012.
Some of the Top 20 brands were:
- Apple
- BMW
- VW
- Nokia
- Mercedes-benz
- Burberry
- Intel
- Louis Vuitton
- Blackberry
- Toyota
The rankings highlight how companies who shake off an overly conservative, brand-safe approach to branded content tend to do better than those who don’t. Branded content producer Jerome Mouton from 34 South Media feels, “more brands should build meaningful campaigns around the target markets passion points”.
“The results of Goviral’s Social Video Equity Report prove that when it comes to branded content, fortune favours the brave”, said Mads Holmen, planning director at Goviral.
“Brands like Red Bull, Old Spice and Nike are risk-takers, constantly disrupting what’s expected to spark agenda-setting conversation. An effective social video strategy isn’t about selling your product, but rather helping the consumer in a way that will, indirectly, reflect positively on your brand.
