The Year On The Web

As Google’s Zeitgeist Year In Review video shows, 2012 was a remarkable year for the web. More specifically, it was a very notable year for online video. A recent piece in CREATIVITY reminded us of this as they listed the top 10 viral ad campaigns of the year.

We’ve re-posted them below.

As you review the great work, and perhaps vividly recall when you first saw them, it’s important to note a few things…

First, audience growth. Last year VW’s “The Force” was number one on this list with 63 million views. Had that been posted in 2012 it would have only been #5.

Second, variable length. The videos on this top ten list range from 20 seconds long to 29 minutes. While just over one minute seems to be the preferred time there is no magic length; videos should be as short as it takes to tell the story, and no longer.

Third, good agencies. The majority of these videos were produced by agencies.

Fourth, culture tie-in. Two of the videos—M&Ms and P&G—launched along with major sporting events (the Super Bowl and Olympics, respectively) and were helped along by an ad buy.

On to the work:

Kony 2012 / 213 million

Red Bull Stratos / 171 million

Angry Birds Space / 109 million

Samsung Galaxy S III / 71 million

Intel and Toshiba Beauty Inside / 55 million

M&M’s Just My Shell / 48 million

P&G Proud Moms / 46 million

TNT Drama / 43 million

Samsung LeBron’s Day / 42 million

Angry Birds Star Wars / 41 million