With the year rapidly coming to a close, it's time to take stock of how things went in 2013. Online video tracker Visible Measures released its list of the 10 brands whose online videos scored the most views this year, and for the second year in a row, Samsung came out on top.
Without further ado, here's Visible Measures' complete list of the top 10 brands in online video this year, based on its "True Reach" statistic, which tabulates a video's total views across the Internet:
- Samsung, 491 million views – Samsung cleared its mark from last year by almost 200 million views with megahit short films featuring Jay Z and Usher. Charging hard after Apple in the mobile market, Samsung ran more than 148 campaigns in 2013, second only to Google (150) among brands on this list.
- Google, 369 million views — Like Samsung, Google is in the same spot it found itself on last year's list. Also like Samsung, Google benefitted from the work of ad agency 72andSunny, which made a series of popular 15-second videos for Google Chrome, as well as the Magna Carta Holy Grail Samsung video that debuted during the NBA Finals.
- Sony, 169 million views — Nearly a third of Sony's total views came from its campaign promoting the debut of the Playstation 4.
- Dove, 159 million views— Dove winds up No. 4 on the list almost entirely on the back of "Real Beauty Sketches", the viral social commentary from ad agency Ogilvy & Mather that was the most shared ad of 2013. "Real Beauty Sketches" accounted for more than 130 million of Dove's total views.
- Rovio, 142 million views— Rovio only ran 3 campaigns in 2013, but was the most efficient brand on the list by average more than 45 million views per campaign. Rovio's most popular ads were for Angry Birds Star Wars.
- 5-Hour Energy, 120 million views — 5-Hour Energy was successful in tapping into people's desire to support brands who create a positive social impact with its series of videos titled "5-Hour Energy Helps Amazing People." The series earned 52 million views.
- Nike, 107 million views — It's somewhat strange to see Nike below 5-Hour Energy on a list of most successful advertisers, but the popular sportswear brand was unable to find a hit to match last year's "Find Your Greatness" ad featuring an overweight jogger.
- Evian, 100 million views— Evian's most popular campaign was baby&me, a video in which a group of adults see baby versions of themselves in a mirror and start dancing.
- Apple, 92 million views — We've written a lot about Apple's advertising struggles, but they're not necessarily apparent in Apple's fifth-place finish among tech brands on this list. With just 51 active campaigns this year, the average Apple campaign was more than 10 times as popular as the average Samsung campaign. And the brand moved up one spot from last year's list.
- Pepsi MAX, 91 million views – Pepsi MAX keyed in on the fact that everyone loves a good surprise with viral campaigns featuring race car driver Jeff Gordon and basketball star Kyrie Irving. In both, the top-tier athletes dressed up as old people and shocked those around them with their world-class skills.