In this video, VCCP's Deputy Executive Creative Director, Matt Lever, and Head of Planning, Cat Wiles, unwrap the secrets to what makes a festive triumph on YouTube.
A version of this perspective also featured on Campaign.
The YouTube Ads Leaderboard explained
Each month, we reveal the top 10 most popular video ads in the UK. The ranking is determined using some of YouTube’s strongest signals of viewer choice – number of views within the country, view rate (how much of an ad people choose to watch), and percentage of organic views versus paid views.
This year's top 10: Christmas Edition 2017
This Christmas, John Lewis and adam&eveDDB topped the chart with "Moz the Monster." The other brands which made up the top 10 were Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, Very.co.uk, Argos, Aldi, Waitrose, Debenhams, Boots and Apple.
“The platform is so interesting for creatives right now, allowing for smart integration of the product and film”
– Matt Lever, Deputy Executive Creative Director, VCCP
We invited industry leaders – VCCP's Deputy Executive Creative Director, Matt Lever, and Head of Planning, Cat Wiles – to talk about their all time favourite Christmas ads and what sparks a magical hit on YouTube.
“The platform is so interesting for creatives right now, allowing for smart integration of the product and film,” Lever said. The Debenhams Christmas ad made just such a clever link, he pointed out: viewers of the ad were immediately able to see where to buy all the clothes that appeared in it.
Creating magical moments
Winning on YouTube is about "being more playful, transforming content from being one-way to being more entertaining, and inviting people into the conversation," Wiles says. There were examples of playfulness in the YouTube Christmas Ads Leaderboard – Sainsbury’s release of karaoke videos in which you can "sing along to a dancing sprout" is not taking itself too seriously, said Lever.
An additional benefit of YouTube for Christmas creativity is its lack of time constraint. A film can be watched "in all its glory". Wiles praised Marks & Spencers for turning bumper ads before content into teasers for its own commercial starring Paddington Bear.
For creatives, "YouTube is super exciting going forward," said Lever. "At VCCP, we’re trying to do some really interesting stuff with it and are looking forward to using it in a really different way in the coming months."
