Most-viewed YouTube ads in India in 2013

YouTube is turning out to be a favourite destination for creative agencies and brand campaigns that are made to engage the audiences online. And, as the internet user base in India continues to grow, brand managers and creative agencies are releasing the true potential of YouTube.

Google India has come up with a list of top YouTube ads in 2013 in India as per the YouTube Ads Leaderboard, which ranks the "most engaging" commercial content that people have been watching on the platform.

As per the company, the trends indicate that digital ads create a level of brand engagement that is not possible through TV alone. On the internet, people don't just watch ads: they like them, comment on them, share them with friends and in some cases, remake them.

Ads with humour, emotions, babies and tech companies rule. The Cadbury 5 star ad featuring Ramesh and Suresh, and the Google Reunion campaign which shows the reunion of friends separated by partition have shown the success of emotional ads on YouTube. Evian and Nestle Kitkat baby ads captured the imagination of netizens.

As per YouTube's annual ads Leaderboard, the ranking algorithm includes various factors, but the view-count numbers are eye-popping as the ads are being watched by millions.

Top 10 ads on YouTube 2013 in India ( by views):

Lifebuoy help a child reach 5: Each year, in India, over 2 million children die before their 5th birthday due to infections that can be prevented by simply hand washing with soap. This film for Unilever's Lifebuoy soap, by Lowe Lintas, tells the moving story of a father's celebration of his son reaching the age of 5. The film won a silver lion at Cannes 2013, Content tailor made for YouTube, divulges into a very serious issue in India which is to prevent child mortality by early age infections like diarrhea etc, crossing over 10 million hits on YouTube campaign has been a huge success because of its socially sensitive nature.

Kitkat Dancing babies: This Digital campaign is symbolic of success humorous content enjoys on YouTube, Humorous babies' content is highly popular on YouTube and such videos attract huge viewership. The highlight of the video is the infectious music track, created by celebrated music producer Mikey McCleary. The ad film was directed by Shyam Madiraju, from Gobsmack, Bobby Pawar, Chief Creative Officer, JWT, and Madiraju worked closely with animation experts from Crater Film Studios, Belgrade, to create the mix of real and animated "baby" shots.

Old spice Mantastic Man: A very non-conventional ad campaign released on YouTube becoming instant hit as it talks about Masculinity with a pinch of humor which has proved to be an instant hit among the audience and the message is absorbed by the public very clearly. The campaign is an adaptation of the global Old Spice campaign and features Milind Soman in the role played by Isaiah Mustafa. Seated on his throne. He then explains the ingredients Old Spice Deodorants have to make one 'Mantastic and a refined man'. It ends with the girl sitting on his lap and Soman urging viewers to buy the deodorant.

Evian baby and me: Another classic digital ad campaign using babies' funny content to send the message across to the target audience. Strong viewership of 60 million is symbolic of popularity of the babies' content on YouTube. This isn't the first time Evian has scored big with its baby advertising shenanigans. In 2009, the company's "Roller Babies" commercial, which featured roller-skating babies, became a huge success.

Kajol's reaction on Lifebuoy help a child reaches 5: In this vides made exclusively for YouTube, Kajol talks about her experience as a mother and how she feels about the Gandappa story. She shares her feelings on how unfortunate it is that children in rural India lose their life because of diseases like diarrhea.

Ramesh and Suresh ad campaign for Cadbury 5 star: Riding on the success of previous campaigns featuring the funny duo of Ramesh and Suresh, this campaign cashes on the recall value of the characters Ramesh and Suresh which have established a great connect with the audience for the funny element they possess.

Sony Xperia z: Sony xperia z campaign divulges into real life situations to show the features of the product. The ad is over 120 seconds and keeps the viewer hooked throughout.

Samsung Galaxy S4: A completely product driven ad campaign giving viewers a detailed visual info of all the features of the mobile phone. It's very interesting way to keep the audience focus intact on the product.

Google Reunion Campaign: A highly emotional campaign in which Google reunites friends split by partition of India and Pakistan. Campaign slightly over 3.5 minutes was released on YouTube and became instant hit as it crossed 10 million hits in a very short span of time.

Pointing out the trends Google India pointed out that unlike television where content distribution is limited by the reach of the channel it is broadcasted, YouTube campaigns have a global impact and reaches out to the global netizens. Some of the major global brands have come up with campaigns made exclusively for YouTube

It also said that web first campaigns are here to stay as many leading brands are now making web only or web first campaigns - releasing their campaigns on web first.

Longer duration ads gives more freedom to creative minds as they have the freedom of going beyond 30 second limit, establish open communication with the consumer and inspire people to share the ads with their circle of friends. Creative professionals are experiencing a new high in the era of digital platforms, which is unshackling the talent of highly skilled advertising professionals in India.

Ads with humour, emotions, babies, tech companies rule. Case in point are the Cadbury 5 star ad featuring funny duo of Ramesh and Suresh, Google reunion campaign which reunites friends split by partition have shown the success of emotional ads on YouTube. Evian and Nestle Kitkat baby ads captured the imagination of netizens.