Kony 2012 named most shared social video ad of 2012

By John Glenday, Reporter

December 3, 2012 | 3 min read

A rundown of this year’s 20 most shared social video ads has been published by the Unruly Global Viral Video Ads Chart, an annual ranking of the most shared video ads.

This year it is the little known non-profit firm Invisible Children which heads the list with Kony 2012 which has generated over 10.1m shares since its launch on 5 March, by far the most of any ad on the chart.

Commenting on their runaway winner an Unruly spokesperson said: “The incredible success of this 30-minute video demonstrates how a relatively unknown entity can make a global impact in social media with powerful content and a comprehensive distribution strategy.

Derived from video sharing behaviour the chart across social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and blogs, the charts are calculated based on shares rather than views, said to be a truer measure of ‘virality’.

Other brands to feature in the top 20 include TNT, A&F and GoPro with Volkswagen, Red Bull and DC Shoes.

The number of videos featuring branded content rose this year with the top 500 ads attracting 113m shares, a 21% increase on a year prior.

Videos in the top 10 increased their share from 16.8m in 2011 to 28m in 2012, a whopping 67% increase.

Unruly Co-Founder and COO Sarah Wood said: “Emotive content and bottom-up sharing stole the show this year. The world’s biggest brands can learn from Invisible Children: it’s not about a 30-second commercial anymore when a 30-minute video gets 10 million global shares.”