Sydney, Australia

June 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 online 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)

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 official 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.

• More than half of the corporate channels were designated ‘inactive’ having not been

updated for more than two months.

• 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.

• An April 2010 comScore Video Metrix announcement identified Australia as the third

largest video-viewing market in the Asia-Pacific region, with more than 10.6 million

people viewing 934 million unique online videos in the month of January 2010.

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

Nu

mb

er

of vid

eo

/ s

ub

scrib

ers

pe

r ch

an

ne

l

Subscribers to channels with <50 videos N

um

be

r o

f vid

eo

/ s

ub

scrib

ers

pe

r ch

an

ne

l

Each tab represents a brand channel

Total number of views per channel <100,000

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

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

To

tal n

um

be

r o

f vie

ws p

er

ch

an

ne

l

Total number of views per channel >100,000

22 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).

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

To

tal n

um

be

r o

f vie

ws p

er

ch

an

ne

l

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 Takeaways

1. 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. 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. Consumers consistently chose video content over text when surfing the Internet. 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.

• 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 B-M study tracked the 101 non-governmental advertisers and related key brands that featured in

The Nielsen Company’s 2009 Top Media Advertiser’s Report. The Nielsen report, which tracks media

spend in Australia, identifies the top 25 biggest buyers (advertisers and advertiser groups) and their ‘key

brands’. The key brands highlighted in the Nielsen report do not necessarily account for the advertiser’s

total ad spend in 2009, nor are they all necessarily the top advertising spending brands in Australia.

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

• References to ‘brands’ in the remainder of this report refers to 101 brand name companies. B-M

included nine advertiser group brands in its analysis (where the corporate brand is distinct from key

brands) and 92 key brands relating to the 25 advertisers/ advertiser groups.

Appendix: Source Companies – Nielsen 2009 Top Advertiser’s Report

Contacts

Daniel Young, Director

Burson-Marsteller Australia

+61 (0) 2 9928 1589

+61 (0) 404 626 584

daniel.young@bm.com

Carly Yanco, Associate

Burson-Marsteller Australia

+61 (0) 2 9928 1531

+61 (0) 413 648 396

carly.yanco@bm.com