By Vernon Mikhail D. Radovan
Google Philippines officially released its YouTube Ads Leaderboard, which lists the top 10 digital ads on YouTube with the most views, for the first half of 2018 during a media event on August 23 at its office in Bonifacio Global City.
McDonald?s ad “Kumusta Ka” is at the top of the list with 4,137,270 views as of writing. It shows the on-screen reunion of Sharon Cuneta and Gabby Concepcion as they shared a meal, stole glances at each other, and shared smiles during the minute-and-a-half video.
Jollibee?s #KwentongJollibee2018: Signs comes next with a love story emphasizing the right perception of signs sent by the universe about whom to love.
Nestl??s “Cerelac Let?s Eat, Bulilit!” was at third with a video that tugs at everyone?s parental instincts. The ad showcased cute babies doing what babies do when their mommy feeds them.
Dominating ad themes in the Leaderboard are in-season narratives or videos released in time for special occasions such as Valentine?s, leveraging on the heightened interest in related topics.
Another notable theme is multi-video storytelling or digital ads series. Jollibee?s #KwentongJollibee2018 became the first campaign to have its full set of ads on the Leaderboard.
The third most popular are celebrity-themed ads where some of the country?s celebrities and a content creator make an appearance and reveal more of themselves in a vlog format.
?We always emphasize that it?s so important to capture attention within the first five seconds. I think the winners here have all demonstrated that,? said Gabby Roxas, country marketing manager of Google PH.
?Whether it?s through the story itself or through the music, cute babies for certain commercials have worked tremendously well, but also being able to use your YouTube creators and celebrities as part of the mix as well.?
The event host added, ?As you know, the current generation is the most advertising-resistant generation ever. In fact, our attention span has gone down to eight seconds only, as opposed to the goldfish which has nine [seconds].?
Most of the ads on the Leaderboard are minutes long. One video in fact runs for 11 minutes and 20 seconds and the shortest video is 30 seconds long.
During the event, the media, brands and Google personnel cast their votes for the Lola Basyang Award which honors the digital ad with the most compelling storyline; Kilig Award which recognizes the ad that makes viewers feel the most giddy inside; and the Isa Pa Please Award which goes to the ad that makes viewers want to know what happens next.
Jollibee won the Lola Basyang Award with two videos that tied for the honor, namely Status and Homecoming. Kumusta Ka of McDonald?s won both the Isa Pa Please and Kilig awards.
Below is the YouTube Ads Leaderboard for January-June 2018:
| Digital Ad | Duration | Brand | |
| 1. | Kumusta Ka | 01:27 | McDonald?s |
| 2. | #KwentongJollibee2018: Signs | 04:05 | Jollibee |
| 3. | CERELAC Let?s Eat, Bulilit! | 01:05 | Nestl? |
| 4. | #KwentongJollibee2018: Status | 03:41 | Jollibee |
| 5. | #KwentongJollibee2018: Homecoming | 03:57 | Jollibee |
| 6. | Alex Wassabi for Jolly Crispy Fries | 01:00 | Jollibee |
| 7. | Cutiespotting | 01:03 | Unilever- Selecta Cornetto |
| 8. | Si Vivoree, may bagong crush? Watch to know more! | 02:16 | Smart-TNT |
| 9. | Heart to Heart with Kris: Entry #37 Stuck In Traffic with the Aquinos | Kris Aquino | The Aquinos |
11:20 | P&G |
| 10. | One Sweet Day | 00:30 | McDonald?s |
