googleThe YouTube Ads Leaderboard showcases the most creative ads that people have chosen to watch and celebrates the brands that performed best in Singapore from July to December 2016 through a combination of popularity and promotion.
Companies taking top positions on the YouTube Singapore Ad Leaderboard span lifestyle, food and beverage and the financial sector, demonstrating brands’ recognition of YouTube as an important part of their marketing strategies to complement traditional advertising on TV.

The Leaderboard shows a great mix of styles - from short-and-sweet 30-second ads to 12-minute drama series - reflecting the wide-ranging content on YouTube and the ability of advertisers to think creatively to capture the attention of their audiences online: A moving rendition of Majulah Singapura by 51 moms, the riveting mini drama about a group of bankers, and a music video applauded by PM Lee – these were just some of the top ads in Singapore last year, revealing the following few trends:

  • Theme #1: Making a song and dance of it. Three of the 10 ads on the leaderboard were music videos. StarHub’s moving rendition of Majulah Singapura by 51 moms in Majulah Moms takes pole position, 吃饱没?(Eat Already?) MV emerged at #3 while The Provision Shop 《杂货店》, a music video of Royston Tan's telemovie received a positive mention by Prime MInister Lee Hsien Loong (#7). Music-themed ads were also a hot favourite, with Apple’s Dive ad for iPhone 7 stereo speakers swimming its way to #8 and McDonald’s jingle for Taste Harmony making the cut (#9).
  • Theme #2: Local heroes. Sometimes having a catchy tune isn’t enough − knowing your audience is a great way to create content that resonates. Hokkien music video of dialect drama, Eat Already?’s official theme song became an earworm to many. Understanding Singaporeans’ passion for food, McDonald’s injected local slang into their ‘Confirm Shiok’ menu to tickle the tastebuds of Singaporeans islandwide.
  • Theme #3: Ads for all ages. The use of video ads to promote government policies to senior citizens, with the two entries for the Hokkien dialect show “Eat Already?” shows that advertisers realise that YouTube reaches out to audiences of all ages, not just the young.
  • Theme #4: Cliffhanger plots. DBS’s Sparks (Ep 4 & 5 ) snagged two spots on the leaderboard. The popular series also bagged a place in the YouTube Ads Leaderboard during the first half of 2016, which goes to show that ads with great storylines and production values can keep viewers tuning in even for 12-minute long ads.


Joanna Flint, Country Director for Google Singapore said, “Ads need to be seen and heard to have impact on audiences and YouTube’s high viewability (93%) and audibility (95%) help brands capture viewers’ attention. The YouTube Ads Leaderboard celebrates the most creative ads and brands that did just that — these are the top ten ads that Singaporeans chose to watch. We’ve seen YouTube’s watchtime grow by 35% over the last year so it’s no surprise that brands like StarHub, DBS and the Ministry of Communications and Information are using the platform to reach viewers of all ages islandwide.”

Collectively, these 10 videos (see below) on the Ads Leaderboard have more than 4.9M views, a testament to the well-made content:

1. StarHub - Majulah Moms
2. Universal Studios Singapore HHN6 | Be Engulfed by the Darkness Within
3. 吃饱没?(Eat Already?) MV
4. SPARKS – Mini-series: Episode 5
5. McDonald's Confirm Shiok TVC
6. SPARKS – Mini-series: Episode 4
7. 《杂货店》The Provision Shop OST | 有空记得约我 - The Freshman
8. iPhone 7 - Dive - Apple
9. McDonald's Taste Harmony
10 《吃饱没?》预告片 - Eat Already? Trailer (Hokkien)

By MediaBUZZ