Week 3 Top Viral Brand Videos – BNP Paribas Claims Bankers Can Be Ethical

This week, we’re going to take you across Europe and America with the top viral brand videos of the last 7 days. It’s an eclectic mix, and even those pesky bankers, not in the good books of most people, are making a spirited attempt to rebrand themselves as being responsible. This week, people seem to have had more time on their hands as the average length of the videos is two minutes.

#1/ Hugo Boss, #HUGO Fashion Show Fall 2013 Trailer

Berlin? The fashion center of the world? I wouldn’t have thought it, but for a few days at least, all eyes will be on Berlin as Germany luxury fashion and style house, HUGO BOSS, launches their Fall 2013 collection. The video promoting the event is a lesson in understatement, but obviously it was enough to send hordes of fashionistas in to a frenzy. Basically, nothing happens in the video, but a pulsating soundtrack keeps people watching for more. Attracting over 310,000 views in just a few days, this is the most viral brand video of the week.

The event was also actively promoted on the Hugo Blog on its website as well as on its Facebook and Twitter pages. Its posts on Facebook promoting the event have gathered over 27,000 likes in all, within a matter of days. Their Facebook page has also uploaded photos and videos of the event just few hours after the event concluded. It needs to waited and watched as to whether some of these videos could make to the top 5 in the next week!

http://youtu.be/QbOK_papfzg

#2/ EA France, The 7 Wonders of Crysis 3 – Cause and Effect

Video games are not about an Italian plumber and his hedgehog any more. They are cinemagraphic masters, epics in mini format. The Crysis gaming franchise from EA, and competitor to Microsoft’s Halo franchise, is one of the most popular titles with hardcore gamers as the series looks to push the boundaries with each release. In the build up to the release of Crysis 3 – Cause and Effect, EA is releasing a number of mini episodes to send young men of the world in to a testosterone fueled tizzy. To date, the two and a half minute video has attracted over 228,000 views and generated good engagement with 142 Likes and 25 comments. More interestingly, the French version of the video has attracted tens of thousands more views than the English version.

The scripts and directions of video game trailers is getting closer to movie quality all the time. The director pitched this one just right and sends gamers in to their own alternative reality as it builds up the tension. Crysis 3 Episode 3: Cause and Effect follows its predecessors Episode 1: Hell of a Town and Episode 2: The Hunt. The game involves the player donning the role of the prophet trying to save the besieged metropolis of New York from the corrupt Cell Corporation soldiers. The metropolis has been divided into distinct environments known as the Seven Wonders, with each one posing unique and new challenges that encourages a dynamic gameplay. The trailer to the game is also promoted on popular gaming sites like gameshadow, jeuxvideo etc.

Despite being a popular video this week, it couldn’t compete with the French versions of the Battlefield 3, Medal of Honor, Mass Effect and Need for Speed trailers, which all attracted millions of views between them.

#3/ BNP Paribas, Practicing His Trade Responsibly

The second video from France to make the top 5 viral brand videos this week, was there nothing good on the TV? Bankers have got quite (err, understatement?) a bad rap in recent years which BNP Paribas tries to address in this video. This two and a half minute animated video talks about (according to my colleague who speaks better French than I do) practicing responsible banking and staying true to its first vision of serving clients and following a strict ethical code of conduct. The video must have resonated with people in France because it attracted 15,000 views in just a few days and quickly became BNP Paribas’ most viewed video of all time.

Bankers have had a hard time of late so BNP Paribas is obviously trying to make inroads to changing public sentiment and opinion. This is the third video in a series focusing on how the bank is attempting to be ethical and responsible with customers. Getting so many views and being the third most viral brand video this week is a step in the right direction but with such low engagement and more Dislikes than Likes, BNP Paribas have got an uphill struggle on their hands.

#4/ Whole Foods, Love Local Organic Farms

Ever bothered to find out where the food items you shop come from? Whole Foods Market’s video ‘Love local organic farms’ takes you to local farms from where they procure fruits and vegetables. The foods supermarket chain from Texas has always emphasized on natural and organic products and this video hits that message home. The video itself is slightly longer than most other viral vidoes at 4:11 minutes long. Since it was uploaded on 3rd January, it’s attracted over 35,000 views, although engagement is not too high with just one (sentimental) comment and 12 Likes.

The video takes the viewer through a tour of Stehly farms and reed avocado orchards, a supplier to Whole Foods Market. It shows how nothing is wasted on the farm and how organically farmed products are tastier and juicier. This video aims to create awareness among its customers on how committed Whole Foods Market is in ensuring that they sell only fresh organic products. A great way to sell more is to tell the story behind the product and Whole Foods always do a great job of that.

http://youtu.be/imcqPRnPurU

#5/ Walgreens, First Timers

Managing babies can be tough, especially if you are a first time parent. This is where Walgreens, the largest drug retailing store in US, steps in and tells you, relax! The video showcases Walgreens’ innovative services to help parents stay connected with pharmacists 24×7 and its iPhone app that helps order prescriptions that are ready to pick up from the store. The emotive and slightly humorous style has helped this video go viral with over 73,000 views (and rapidly rising) at the time of writing.

The video has also sparked a small debate about breastfeeding among the commenters and got people engaging with Likes and Dislikes. The video itself is actually a TV (and YouTube!) friendly 30 second version of a longer video which was posted on Facebook. The longer video got plenty of engagement on Facebook, but it was the 30 second version that has done the best on YouTube.

http://youtu.be/mb_ndZfWNxQ

It’s great to see such a variety of videos making the top 5 list each week. Without the Unmetric platform, we wouldn’t get such a broad insight to viral brand videos. The amount of effort that goes in to the video game trailers is incredible, which is no wonder they attract millions of views each from gamers hungry to immerse themselves in these dreamed up worlds.

Methodology

All data has been compiled and analyzed from the Unmetric application which tracks dozens of metrics to enable brands to benchmark themselves against competitors and their industry sector. Gain access to all this data by claiming a 10 day free trial.a href=”http://www.unmetric.com/” target=”_blank”