Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Top Viral Videos - Dec. 2010

Sports, especially of the extreme variety, were prominently featured in four of the 10 most-shared online videos tracked by Unruly Media during December 2010. These included the top two videos: “Gymkhana Three, Part 2″ from DC Shoes and “Way Back Home” from extreme biker Danny MacAskill. Physical feats have always transferred well to the screen, and this month, online video viewers were impressed enough with several videos featuring athletes and athletic accomplishments to make them among the 10 most-shared.

Leading the way was an installment in the “Gymkhana” series of stunt driving videos from professional rally racer Ken Block promoting DC Shoes. This video rose from number three in mid-November to the top spot this month.

Another installment in the Gymkhana series was shared enough to rank ninth on the list for December, proving the global popularity and visual excitement of motorsports.

The second-most-shared video featured extreme biker Danny MacAskill performing a variety of eye-popping feats as he travels across the rugged terrain and crowded cities of Scotland. In addition, the more mainstream sport of basketball is represented by the number five video from Nike Basketball, featuring legendary NBA icon Michael Jordan telling modern-day NBA star LeBron James to quit making excuses about his many public relations gaffes and play ball.

Other Top Videos Run from Somber to Silly to Cute

The remaining six videos on the top 10 list are a mixed bag of somber, silly and cute, with some crossing multiple lines. The number three video, celebrating 20 years of anti-drunk-driving ads from Australian government agency Transport Accident Commission (TAC), struck a serious tone about the deadly effects of driving while intoxicated.

Much lighter in tone were three videos making a repeat appearance from MarketingCharts’ last analysis of the Unruly Media most-shared video list in mid-November 2010. Evian “Roller Babies” features roller skating infants, T-Mobile “Welcome Back” is a recording of a presumably genuine ambush singalong performed for arriving travelers at London’s Heathrow Airport, and NSFW “A Hunter Shoots a Bear” is a slightly off-color satire of bear hunting.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola “Snow Globes” sets a heartwarming holiday tone with Santa Claus manipulating events in a city which exists as a snow globe on his desk. And the oddest entry this month, number 10 “The Entrance” from Heineken, is hard to categorize.

Combining humor, athletic feats, music and sex appeal, it features a suave young man making what can only be called the world’s greatest entrance to an elite cocktail party, exchanging numerous traditional greetings with people of different cultures, performing acrobatics, martial arts and magic, displaying some serious basketball skills, and heavily flirting with an attractive female singer. It is certainly eye-catching, which is really the effect any viral video ultimately aims to achieve.

Top 10 Most-shared Online Videos December 2010

1. DC Shoes - Ken Block’s Gymkhana Three, Part 2 – Ultimate Playground, L’Autodrome
2. Danny MacAskill – Way Back Home
3. TAC Campaign – 20-Year Anniversary Retrospective
4. Coca-Cola: Snow Globes: Coca-Cola 2010 Christmas Commercial
5. Nike Basketball: Michael Jordan’s Response to LeBron James What Should I Do Commercial
6. Evian – Roller Babies
7. T-Mobile – Welcome Back
8. NSFW – A Hunter Shoots A Bear
9. DC Shoes – Ken Block’s Gymkhana Two, The Infomercial
10. Heineken – The Entrance

8 in 10 Marketers Using Online Video Seek Higher Engagement

Close to 80% of marketers using online video on their sites do so to increase visitor engagement, or time spent, according to a recent study from TubeMogul. This is by far the most popular reason. Another 60% use online video to strengthen their brand, and almost 60% use online video to increase overall visitors (more than one answer was permitted).

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