Top 25 brand moments on social media in Asia from 2014

This post was originally published on Campaign Asia.

Like how the 90s are called the golden age of television, 20 years down the line, the current decade will be recognized as the golden age of social media. Don’t buy it? I’ll tell you why. This is the time when the larger part of advertising’s target universe is active and spending a large portion of their waking hours on social.  The space is ideal for brand advertising, especially since ecommerce aids in the possibility of an immediate sale and the dollar spend is a lot less when compared to traditional media. You can get 100% viewership from followers on Instagram with no ad-spend!

To create this Top 25 brand moments from Asia in 2014, we analyzed over a million pieces of micro-content published by brands in the form of Facebook posts, tweets, YouTube videos, Instagram posts, etc.  With brands taking social media this seriously and creating content regularly, we had a tough time picking just 25 of the top moments. To curate this list we looked at Unmetric’s engagement score along with total interactions in terms of likes, retweets and views.

1. ToysRUs Singapore – Brand with the most new views

With a growth rate of 145% and 50 million new views, ToysRUs Singapore achieved the highest YouTube channel growth rate in 2014 in Asia.

2. Thai Life Insurance Thailand – Unsung Hero

Get the tissues ready for this one. We see the protagonist of the video carrying out selfless deeds and what he gets in return will leave you in tears. The message ties in beautifully to the insurance brand’s tagline. The video garnered over 25 million views and is the channel’s and industry’s most viewed video in Asia.

3. Dtac Thailand – The power of Love

One more tear jerker from a brand in Thailand, this video shows a young man embracing fatherhood. While technology can connect and help people it will never replace love. This beautiful video touched the hearts of over 17 million viewers and went viral shortly after it was posted.

4. Sunsilk India – Brand with the highest Facebook fan growth in 2014

In just one year, Sunsilk India went from 1.1 M to 14.5M fans and achieved a fan growth rate of 92% on Facebook which made them the brand with the highest growth rate on Facebook.

5. Lifebuoy India – Help a Child Reach 5

Following the brand’s heartwarming campaign in 2013, Lifebuoy adopted another village in 2014 and promised to “Help a Child Reach 5”. Basing the campaign on the fact that many children pass away at a very young age simply due to lack of hygiene and that this can be avoided by the simple act of washing hands, the ad narrates the story of a young mother and the only remaining memory of her son through which it captured the hearts of over 11 million viewers. 

6. McDowells’s India – Dhoni Sings for his Buddies

McDowells leveraged its brand ambassador, cricketer MS Dhoni, to promote their karaoke app and their soda (advertising alcohol is banned in India). This got the brand over 7.8 million views on YouTube and was one of the more popular videos in India in 2014.

7. Emirates Middle East – All Time Greats

For the football World Cup, Emirates put together this humorous video with Ronaldo and Pele traveling the airline. The video went viral among fans are garnered over 7 million views.

8. Samsung Malaysia – Galaxy K

Samsung’s ad that introduced the Galaxy K with a zoom camera received over a million views and became one of the top 5 most viewed videos in the brand’s channel. Was it the short 20 second format or the new feature that made this video tick? Let’s say a combination of the two.

9. Idea Cellular India – No Ullu Banaoing

The telecom brand had the whole country chanting the catchy phrase following this ad campaign. The video on YouTube garnered over a million views and became the most viewed video in the brand’s channel and remains so today. The positioning of the company and the promise to keep people smarter really engaged the audience and made the video go viral.

10. Old Spice India – Most liked Facebook post

Quirky and funny – that’s the two ingredients Old Spice used to make their post the most liked Facebook update in all of Asia. Close to 420,000 Likes were received on the post

 

11. Fastrack India – #KeepTripping

Fastrack know how to target their market with excellently urban and crazy video. The campaign was anchored with the hashtag #KeepTripping and was one of the top performing campaigns for both the brand and industry.

 

12. Ixigo India – Most shared Facebook post

In this smart video post, Ixigo showcases some of the coolest and useful travel hacks  for smart travelers while also subtly tying in the travel planning site. The tips were shared by over 208,000 people with their friends making it the most shared brand Facebook post in 2014.

 

13. Nescafe Singapore – Creating Friendships

Taking the insight that people living in urban apartments unsocial and disconnected from neighbors, this video proves how a simple cup of coffee can break the ice and create friendships.  The video garnered over 200,000 views and was one of the top campaigns in the food and beverage industry.

14. KFC Malaysia – Most engaging post in Malaysia

All fans of KFC needed was a melt in the mouth dish to warm their hearts and show their love for the QSR brand. This was the most engaging post in all of Malaysia. The post garnered over 187,000 Likes.

 

15. McDonald’s Japan – Most retweeted tweet

McDonald’s gave its followers a chance to win a lottery with an amazing prize if they simply retweeted the tweet. This got them a massive 91,000 Retweets.

￥100マックは税込み☆ http://t.co/NrakGaYauy @Love_McDをフォロー＆このツイートをリツイートで、 抽選で10名様にチキンクリスプ1年分 相当のマックカードをプレゼント♪5/26まで pic.twitter.com/kuMunMCNb3

— マクドナルド (@Love_McD) May 21, 2014

 

16. Pringles Korea – Most Commented Facebook Post

Pringles engaged its social community in Korea with a post that was able to trigger over 77,000 Comments making it the most commented Facebook post in all of Asia in 2014.

17. Indian Super League – #isltrumps

Indian Super League used their hashtag #isltrumps over 42,000 times in the year. This is the highest usage of a particular hashtag by a brand in Asia.

18. BMW Singapore – Most Engaging Facebook Post in all of Singapore

BMW cars + an exciting driving circuit on an island = an amazing outdoor experience + high social engagement This equation sums up the automotive brand’s campaign. Identified with #BMWxDriveisland, the post gave the brand over 42,000 Likes, 4,000 Comments and a full engagement score of 1,000. It impressed the social community so much so that it became the most engaging Facebook post in all of Singapore.

 

19. Cleobella Indonesia – Brand with the highest Instagram follower growth

The retail chain from Indonesia grew their follower base on Instagram from 17,000 to over 50,000. This them a growth rate of 191% and made them the fastest growing brand on the image based social network.  20. Starbucks Japan – Most favorited tweet Starbucks invited followers to try the green tea cream Frappuchino in this tweet. The novel drink and the image centric tweet attracted over 20,000 Favorites and became the most favorited tweet in Japan.

みなさまから多くいただいたプディングのカスタマイズは、抹茶 クリーム フラペチーノ®でした。抹茶パウダーを多めにすると、抹茶プリンのような味わいに。もしよろしければ試してみてくださいね。それではよい週末を！ pic.twitter.com/Wb7XRO86v4

— スターバックス コーヒー (@Starbucks_J) October 3, 2014

 

21. Marina Bay Sands Singapore – Crack the Vault

Contest are a sure fire way of generating engagement. The brand gamified this contest and asked fans to attempt opening “the vault”.  While fans won a chance to meet their ambassador, the handsome David Beckham and a free stay at the property, the brand won tons of engagement in the form of Likes, Comments and Shares.

 

22. Delhi Airport India – Tweet with the most replies

It seems like all users need is that small nudge and encouragement to share and they willingly participate. Much like Maybelline on Instagram, Delhi Airport on Twitter simply asked fans to participate in a contest by replying to a tweet and over 13,000 did with plenty of enthusiasm. With this, the brand’s tweet now stands as the tweet with the most replies in Asia in 2014.

#Contest #Day14 Spend time with loved ones to spread #FestiveAir, Define the image in one word & win daily pic.twitter.com/JQz5cxUK4T

— Delhi Airport (@Delhi_Airport) December 28, 2014

23. Maybelline India – Most commented Instagram Post

In the Instagram post where Maybelline invited followers to comment and share a few inspirational reasons as to who they were born to be, the personal care brand received a huge 10,688 comments! This made the picture the most commented brand content on Instagram in Asia.

As Maybelline girls, we are Born With It, so tell us who you are #BornTo be in the comments below and WIN the biggest giveaway yet! Remember to use #BornTo! #MaybellineIndia #Contest #Makeup

A photo posted by Maybelline New York India (@maybellineindia) on Nov 26, 2014 at 2:49am PST

 

24. Ben & Jerry’s Singapore – Free Cone Day

Simple, to the point and free ice cream! Why wouldn’t this post do well? What’s more, this was the most engaging post for the brand in all of 2014.

 

25. Malaysia Airlines – Most favorited Instagram post

In this respectful post referring to the MH17 tragedy, Malaysian airlines expressed their grief and support for the travelers.

It’s time to come home – #staystrong #flyinghigh

A photo posted by Malaysia Airlines (@malaysiaairlines) on Aug 21, 2014 at 1:21am PDT

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