FILIPINOS still love heartfelt stories — after all, Globe Telecom’s “Choose Courage” ad sat atop the Youtube Ads Leaderboard for the first half of 2017, with 7.2 million views as of this writing.
The biannual list by Youtube Philippines recognizes the most popular ads on the video-sharing network for a period of six months in terms of number of views.
The “Choose Courage” ad was done in partnership with Disney and was launched in December 2016 to promote the newest entry to the Star Wars film franchise — Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
“We had no idea this was going to happen,” Charly Atienza, director for marketing services of Globe, said during the launch on July 28 at the Google offices in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
This was the biggest Globe ad to date, she said — the ad went viral and was picked up by international news agencies and won Best Short Form Award at the 2017 Brand Film Festival in New York.
“Choose Courage” is the story of a girl who is always seen wearing the iconic Stormtrooper helmet and how she goes on about her daily life. The two-minute video ends with the reveal of why she had to wear the helmet and what made her remove it in public.
Following the Globe/Disney ad, is a sequel to McDonald’s “Tuloy Pa Rin,” which told the story of a couple breaking up and the girl moving on. This time, the ad entitled “Kaya Niya, Kaya Mo” follows the story of the guy as he moves on.
“We had a long discussion about sequels because not all sequels work… [and] there’s always pressure to do better than the last,” said Christine Lao, marketing director of McDonald’s Philippines.
But they eventually decided to go for it and show a different point of view. And it worked as the video has so far garnered more than six million views since its release in late March 2017.
“We had a better response in the second [ad] and the ad views were higher,” Ms. Lao said before adding it was a testament to how Filipinos love happy endings and feel-good stories.
Meanwhile, another Globe ad made the top 10 list as “No More Kapit Wifi sa Globe Prepaid Wifi” landed at number five with 3.4 million views.
“We wanted to veer away from drama [so] we went with horror,” said Martha Sazon, head of Postpaid and Platinum consumer marketing at Globe.
The video shows various neighbors scaring the wits out of the family as they skulk near the house to get a decent Wi-Fi signal.
Ms. Sazon acknowledged that the success of their Wi-Fi ad would not measure up to the Disney ad but said it did manage to quadruple the sales of the Globe at Home prepaid Wi-Fi.
Joining Globe in the multi-entry club are McDonald’s and Jollibee.
Jollibee’s “Regalo ni Lolo” (1.8 million views) and “Kwentong Jollibee Valentine Series: Crush” (2.5 milliom views) landed at the tenth and seventh spots, respectively. “We wanted to rise beyond the [emotional] clutter [and tell the story] of finding the perfect gift,” said Clarisse Yacapin-Sumulong, senior brand manager for channels and kids at Jollibee of “Regalo ni Lolo.”
McDonald’s got the sixth spot for the documentary-like video of “The Boy Who Loved to Study” which followed up on the story of the viral photo which circulated on Facebook about a boy who was studying using the light of the McDonald’s pylon in Cebu City. It currently has 2.9 million views.
Also in the Top Ten are Nestle’s “Nesfruta Buko Why Not? Coconut?” at 3rd place with 4.9 million views; Cadbury’s “Experience Out of this World Joy with Smooth and Creamy Cadbury Dairy Milk” at 4th place with 4.4 million views; Rexona’s “Commute Pa More, Fresh Pa More with Kathryn Bernardo” at 8th place with 2.2 million views; and, Smart Telecom’s “Make Meaningful Connections” at 9th place with 2.2 million views. — Zsarlene B. Chua
TOP 10
MOST POPULAR YOUTUBE ADS IN THE PHILIPPINES (JAN.-JUNE 2017)
1 #CreateCourage — Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
2 Kaya Niya, Kaya Mo
3 NESFRUTA Buko? Why Not, Coconut! | NESFRUTA | Nestlé PH
4 Experience out-of- this-world joy with #smoothandchocolatey Cadbury Dairy Milk
5 #NoMoreKapitWiFi with #GlobeAtHome Prepaid WiFi!
6 The Boy Who Loves to Study
7 Kwentong Jollibee Valentine Series: Crush
8 Commute pa more, #FreshPaMore with Kathryn Bernardo!
9 Make meaningful connections like never before.
10 Ang Regalo ni Lolo
