Sydney, Australia May 2010

Top Brands in Australia & Social Video Sharing Sites

Methodology – Research Objectives

• The study tracked 101 key non-governmental brands with significant operations in Australia. Source companies were taken from The Nielsen Company (Nielsen) report: Top Media Advertiser Report for 2009.

• The Burson-Marsteller (B-M) study examined official branded channels within the top social video sharing sites; YouTube, Vimeo and Metacafe.

• The study looked at:– The presence of a branded channel– The number and type of channel/s

• Corporate – Relating to whole of company• Promotional – Relating to a competition, marketing campaign or special offer

– The number of videos, subscribers and total views (all videos combined)

• The objective of the study was to investigate the extent to which leading brands operating in Australia had incorporated video into their marketing communication programs

• The study follows two related social media research projects by B-M:– Social Media Use by Australia’s Best Brands (November 2009)– Online Newsroom Study (March 2010)

• The Nielsen 2009 Top Media Advertiser’s Report covers main media advertising estimates for the period Jan to Dec 2009 versus 2008 and summarises:

– Top 25 Advertisers/Advertiser Groups

– Top Advertiser Categories and their allocation of spend estimates across main media.

– Top Advertisers/Advertiser Groups by allocation of spend estimates across each of the 10 main media sectors.

• The Nielsen study identified 101 key brands associated with the non-governmental companies that ranked among the 25 biggest spenders on advertising media in 2009, as identified by Nielsen. B-M evaluated the presence of these 101 brands within the top social video sharing sites.

• The top 25 advertisers (including the public sector brands that were omitted for the purposes of the B-M study) accounted for 22 cents of every main media and dollar spent in 2009, according to Nielsen.

• Nielsen were not involved in the development of the B-M study but are aware of its existence.

Source Companies – Nielsen 2009 Top Advertiser’s Report

Executive Summary

• More than half (65 per cent) of the 101 brands surveyed did not have a branded video channel within the top social video sharing sites.

• Of those brands with branded video channels: – 67 per cent had one or more corporate channel

– 33 per cent had one or more promotional channel

– Only ten per cent of the brands surveyed offered both corporate and promotional channels.

• The average view count across all channels was 12,298 with an average of 13 subscribers per channel.

• YouTube hosted 98 per cent of the channels studied, making it the number one social video sharing site for Australian brands.

Official brand presence in social video sharing sites

Most of the 101 brands surveyed are not leveraging the opportunity presented by top social video sharing sites.

65 per cent (66 of the 101 brands) have no official brand presence in the top sites.

A small number of brands seem to be investing resources in branded video channels and using them to drive promotional and corporate communication goals.

65%No

Channel

24%One

Channel

11%More than

One Channel

Channel focus – corporate or product?

Of those brands with a presence on the top social video sharing sites, 67 per cent had one or more corporate channel.

33 per cent had one or more promotional channel.

10 per cent of the 101 companies surveyed managed both corporate and product / promotional channel/s.

Number of videos per channel

Eight per cent of branded video channels in the top social video sharing sites offer more than 50 videos.

41 per cent of the branded video channels contained less than ten videos. These profiles should be viewed as inactive accounts.

Subscribers to channels with >50 videos

This graph shows the correlation between the number of videos on the channel and the number of subscribers.

Volume of activity is just one determinant of success. The quality and relevance of the content is the primary determinant of success for online video content.

Video content within social networks and social media should be search optimised to enhance discovery and improve search engine rankings. Each tab represents a brand channel

Num

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Subscribers to channels with <50 videos N

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Each tab represents a brand channel

Total number of views per channel <100,000

84 per cent of the channels surveyed have generated less than 100,000 total views, as of April 2010.

66 per cent have generated less than 50,000 total views.

84 per cent have generated less than 10,000 total views.

These findings support the assertion that the ‘build it and they will come approach’ to social media and online content does not work.

Brands need to ensure that their social media campaigns are integrated with and supported by broader marketing communication programs.

Each tab represents a brand channel

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Total number of views per channel >100,00022 per cent of the branded channels studied have attracted six figure audiences (as of April 2010).

Examples of corporate channels which have recorded more than 100,00 views in total: •Telstra•Qantas •Roadshow Films Australia.

Example of product or promotional channels which have recorded more than 100,000 views in total are:•Streets Golden Gaytime (Unilever)•Rexona Australia’s Greatest Athlete (Unilever) •Toohey’s 5 Seeds (Lion Nathan National Foods).

Tot

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Each tab represents a brand channel

Most popular social video sharing sites

Unsurprisingly, YouTube emerged as the dominant video sharing social network for branded video channels online.

98 per cent of the branded channels identified in the study were hosted on YouTube.

98%

Best Practice in Australia – Qantas

• Subtle and appropriate branding

• Single channel for multiple programs– News e.g. Qantas grid girl uniform launch / A380

launch

– Sponsorships: e.g. Qantas Socceroos

– Promotions / Programs: e.g. Frequent Flyer scheme

– Paid media: e.g. Supporting advertising campaigns

• Regular updates and short videos

• Interactivity through comments

• Integrated: Links to and from Qantas.com and blogs

• Content is fully search optimised and organised by Playlist

Conclusions and Takeaways1. Some of the largest brand name companies in Australia are investing in video content for the top social video sharing sites.

A significant proportion of brands are missing the opportunity to engage their audience groups via this form of content and social media.

2. Consumers consistently chose video content over text when surfing the Internet. A 2010 Nielsen study found that the average online Australian spends 6 hours and 52 minutes in social media every month, which is more than online consumers in the UK and the USA .

3. The same Nielsen study found that more and more Australians are accessing social media via mobile devices, where there is an even stronger preference for video content. One quarter (26 per cent) of social networkers participated in online social media in the 2009.

4. Having a presence within video sharing social media sites is just one step towards establishing an effective presence. Brands need to have a clear strategy and to develop compelling content that engages their target audience to increase their chance of success within this form of social media.

5. At a minimum, businesses should be listening to online discussions and content relating to their brand, products and services within social video sharing sites. A failure to monitor in this way can lead to damaged company reputations, as some major international brands have found to their cost.

6. Consumption of online video is only likely to increase in the future as broadband speeds increase and as Australians increase the amount of time they spend online. Brands should work to identify the role that video could play in support of their marketing communications objectives.

Contacts

Daniel Young, DirectorBurson-Marsteller Australia+61 (0) 2 9928 1589 +61 (0) 404 626 584 daniel.young@bm.com

Carly Yanco, AssociateBurson-Marsteller Australia+61 (0) 2 9928 1531+61 (0) 413 648 396carly.yanco@bm.com