YouTube Ads Leaderboard in MENA – July 2014

If there ever was a time for branded content to take center stage in the region, Ramadan would be it. Brands contributed to the Ramadan spirit by encouraging viewers to come together, spread happiness, and express gratitude. Four out of the five top spots are localized advertisements, specifically appealing to the region. Pepsi & Chipsy collaborated once again to create this month’s top spot “يلا نكمل لمتنا”, which features prominent celebrities from different eras of Egyptian cinema to trigger the ultimate means of social connectedness – nostalgia. Mobinil shared a feel-good Ramadan theme song “افتح قلبك واعرفني”, inviting viewers to open up and focus on the commonalities that bring us together. Mobinil released its humorous spot “المشاركة الخامسة 9: تقهو” in which Saudi Arabian comedian, Yousef, offers Arabic coffee in the streets of Brazil. Galaxy shared the sequel ad, “The Match Part 2”, in which football stars Messi, Ronaldo, and Götze unite to save the planet. Coca-Cola launched their #OpenUp campaign, featuring popular Kuwaiti fashion blogger, Ascia, sharing her inspirational story in an effort to encourage viewers to open up to different points of view.

The Results:

Title: YALLA NEKAMEL LAMETNA
YouTube Channel: Pepsi Masr
Creative Agency: IMPACT BBDO
Viewership: 6,156,265

Title: اغنية موبينيل رمضان 2014 #افتح_قلبك_واعرفني كاملة – Mobinil Ramadan
YouTube Channel: mobinil
Creative Agency: Leo Burnett
Viewership: 1,910,894

Title: #المشاركة_الخامسة 9: تقهو
YouTube Channel: Mobily
Creative Agency: LOWE MENA
Viewership: 1,352,851

Title: #GALAXY11: The Match Part 2
YouTube Channel: Samsung Mobile
Creative Agency: Cheil and R/GA
Viewership: 16,243,089

Title: Coca-Cola Open Up Story — Ascia
YouTube Channel: Coca-Cola
Creative Agency: Memac Ogilvy
Viewership: 448,558

The YouTube Ads Leaderboard charts the ads people chose to watch this year (determined quantitatively via paid-to-organic view ratio and audience retention), not necessarily the “most watched” ads on YT. As such, these ads won’t be the ones with the highest view counts, but those that engaged their audience by using savvy promotion to ignite organic pass-along