Canada’s favourite YouTube ads
Mobile games, social good and millennial dads were all draws for Canadians watching this year.
It can be tough for advertisers on YouTube, who have to compete in a world of cute animals and Drake’s questionable dancing.
But nonetheless, some brands managed to stand out. Below is a list of the top 10 ads viewed in Canada for 2015, according to YouTube’s leaderboard.
Among the major trends in ads this year was gaming. The top two ads of the year were both for mobile games (Clash of Clans and Boom Beach) and more than 20 of the 100 top subscribed YouTube channels are gaming-related, according to the site.
Also big this year were socially-conscious ads, including Always’ follow-up to “#LikeAGirl,” called “Unstoppable” and the Ontario government’s “#WhoWillYouHelp,” focused on encouraging people to speak up about sexual harassment and assault. Both of those campaigns were created by Leo Burnett, which was named strategy‘s Agency of the Year last month.
“Fatherly love” was also big this year, YouTube says. “Millennial dads are turning to YouTube for answers to parenting questions and brands have taken note, producing ads that show appreciation for fathers,” its press release says, pointing to top ads from Quaker and Dove Men+Care.
In 2015, the average length of the top ads was 1:37 minutes and the top 10 ads had more than 257 million views. Average watch-time duration for the top ads is 72%.
