Yes, We all know that German efficiency prevailed in this years FIFA World Cup on the pitch, but who won the biggest prize off the pitch in Brazil this year in the battle for social media supremacy? Nike? Adidas? or even Samsung?
The World Cup attracts viewers all over the globe as it was reported that 88 million people had more than 280 million social interactions related to the final of Germany v Argentina. With such staggering statistics, social media becomes a viral marketing nest for brands to gain attention on the largest of scales. Everywhere on social media lay a viral campaign spread by big name brands fighting for social status on who can be the most popular player in the social media playground.
Let’s take a dive (pun intended) into the brands that competed in the social tournament for the prize of the best viral campaign, with this year’s Top 5 campaigns based on effectiveness and success.
5. Samsung – Galaxy XI
The Training:
View Count: 124,374,254 views
By far the most ridiculous of all viral campaigns, Samsung’s Galaxy XI series takes on the alien empire which is over running earth, very similar to the last game however instead of The Incredible’s it took inspiration from Alien v Predator. Whilst subtlety integrating Samusung’s Galaxy gear and delivering an interesting story series, it managed to rake in one of the highest viewer counts, yet the ridiculousness of the video almost distracts and puts off viewers from Galaxy products as a cheap tacky product.
4. Beats By Dre
The Game Before The Game:
View Count: 24,501,341 views
Beats by Dre presented another cinematic type film with portraying the reality of life for players before the game. Beats by Dre looks into the everyday life of players looked upon as god like figures while subtly playing their products within their everyday life. The objective seems to be that Dre is giving the audience an inside look into the hidden lifestyle of these superstars, forcing a comparison of similarity to be drawn with viewers own lives. this places the product with the real life of players, distancing the common perception of Beats by Dre being a materialised product which is only worn in front of cameras to keep marketers happy.
3. Mcdonalds – “Gol!”
View Count: 18,087,146 views
The most lighthearted of all the top 5, Mcdonalds has aimed to draw paralell with brazilian society, putting the culture of football into its Gol! campaign. Again, the product is not even present throughout the campaign as Mcdonalds aims to draw an emotional story for viewers to witness and serach to watch on the web. This interactive campaign encourages viewers to become a part of the project by downloading its app at www.mcd.gol.com (a football flicking Game). Its in the app where the Mcdonalds magic of plastering logos everywhere begins, as users are then exposed to the brand of Mcdonalds.
2. Adidas – “All in or Nothing”
The Dream
View Count: 90,314,729 views
a part of Adidas’ greatly successful “all in or nothing” campaign, The Dream tops the list with the tactic similar to that of Beats By Dre to pain the human side of the football superstars replicating victorious moments with Adidas equipment and apparel Incorporated into its film. A Great contributor to the success of this specific viral video is the specific featuring of German and Argentine players, who both appeared in the final.
1. Nike – “Risk Everything”
The Last Game
View Count: 240,684,123 views
By far the winner of the viral world cup, Nike has taken a completely original twist on the slightly aging strategy of playing a ‘Superstars XI’ against another team with its Incredible’s themed The Last Game. The short’s cartoon twist on current superstar players makes it a must watch for all fans who support the players and teams they are involved with. As a result its products are exposed to nearly a quarter of a billion viewers with the subtle measure of ‘product placement’ strategies within the brands own short films. Following the video has been many side projects including extra’s and short add on’s to keep viewer counts rising and the video to still trend across all social media platforms.
Underlying Strategies:
The strategy throughout all the top 5 viral’s is the same: Create content that represents a story, not a product. The objective is to seamlessly integrate the product within the story, the heavy use of sub conscious strategies to integrate products into videos that are sought after for the story, is what creates such successes for all of the above brands.
Awareness is built at the sub conscious level, rather than the ‘in your face’ conscious level.
Join in the conversation and leave your thoughts on the ranking below! are the rankings correct? is there an idea that’s been overlooked? All comments will be replied to!
SP
References:
http://www.visiblemeasures.com
Mr. Pixelnos 
Spot on.
I only remember seeing the Adidas and Nike spots.
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Hey there, the Adidas and Nike shorts seemed to be the most heavily published, especially on TV. Whilst the other three primarily focused on purely engaging their audience via social media. Considering the Adidas and Nike were the most successful, it sparks the question is it good to find the balance in both?
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In this day and age, very few corporations can choose to focus on one (social media vs. traditional advertising outlets). No stone can be left unturned, especially when you have the money to spend (like these companies obviously do).
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Fantastic insight, it seems like traditional mediums (Tv, Radio, Print) aren’t dying and never will die, but social media is only adding to the ‘main pillers’ of advertising. You could say its going through puberty and having a massive growth spurt whilst the likes of print and radio are aging, an interesting topic that is worth writing on for sure!
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