Food & Confectionary Social Video Insight2013

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to VAN’s monthly insight report on what’s hot in the world of social video in the food and confectionary sector.

The insights in this document are comprised of:• Brand insights• Viral video case studies• UGC insights• YouTuber insights• Blogger insights• Search stats & insights

VAN’s social video insights are collated with the help of our TubeRank app

Flickr photo: APM Alex

Key brand observationsRead all about it! The rise of the eco-conscious consumer.

BRAND TRENDS: FOOD

The rise in popularity of the food blogging community has given consumers a massive platform on which to share their opinions and make their voices heard. There are now thousands of recipes, reviews, videos and images being uploaded to the web every day, meaning that information relating to the food industry is more accessible than ever.

This has lead to a rise in consumer concerns about food, with increasing emphasis being placed on healthy eating, organic produce and sustainable farming.

As a result, brands like Chipotle and McDonald’s are trying to shake off their junk food image, highlighting eco-friendly projects and community initiatives in an attempt to appeal to a new generation of socially-aware, uber-informed internet veterans who have access to a plethora of information about what they’re putting into their mouths.

Source: Flickr - Pam Loves Pie

BRAND TRENDS: CONFECTIONARY

2013 has seen a rise in branded storytelling, with ads often being released in installments as part of a wider campaign to build on a branded concept. This trend is particularly true of confectionary companies, which tend to be amongst the most playful sectors of the food industry.

Less concerned with pushing nutritional benefits, confectionary brands are marketed as fun treats for the whole family. As such there is a stronger emphasis on gimmicks, humour and youth / internet culture. We’ve seen incredibly successful campaigns this year from the likes of Oreo, (who focused on generating a mass social debate over which part of the biscuit was better, the cookie or the crème) and KitKat, who partnered with Google, tapping into the popular YouTube trend of spoof Apple iPhone videos.

Key brand observationsAre you snacking comfortably? Then we’ll begin...

CASE STUDIES - Insight into trending ads in the food sector in 2013

Chipotle: The Scarecrow (Sep 2013)

Shares: 138,787 | Views: 6,264,084 Share Ratio = 1:45

The Campaign: Mexican food chain, Chipotle, released a beautifully animated short film designed to highlight the brand’s concern for sustainable farming. Set to the haunting soundtrack of Willy Wonka’s ‘Pure Imagination’ and featuring a fantastical vision of a dystopian future, the video has all the right cues to tug on the heartstrings and get your emotions flowing.

The ad was designed to promote the launch of a free iOS game where users could save the scarecrow from the factory on their smart phone or tablet.

#Wins:The high production values and epic nature of the ad appeals to film fans and makes it a pleasure to watch and share. Plus, the moving storyline plays on topical concerns around animal cruelty, factory farming and sustainable living, creating plenty of conversation triggers.

Music plays a powerful role in viral sharing and by giving a new lease of life to a classic song and making the track available for fans to download from iTunes, Chipotle broadened the appeal of the ad making it accessible to a wider audience demographic of pop culture fans.

#Fails: The anti-industrial food theme is somewhat at odds with the Chipotle brand, which despite stressing its emphasis on sustainable farming, is still ultimately a mass chain restaurant.

The message conveyed by the video appears to endorse vegetarianism and independent, local eating establishments – a concept that doesn’t fit with the Chipotle brand. For this reason the video attracted a large amount of criticism with some accusing it of being a flagrant attempt by advertisers to manipulate the emotions of viewers and present the brand as something it’s not, giving rise to such parody videos as ‘Honest Scarecrow’.

Communities of Interest:

Conversation Triggers:

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Epic

Moving

Topical

Educational

Music Film Gaming Activist

The Campaign: As part of its 2013 Super bowl campaign, the Wonderful Pistachios brand released ‘Get Crackin’, a music video parody of Gangnam Style. The video featured Psy donning a sequined jacket in the brand’s trademark pistachio green shade, strutting his stuff to a remix of the K-pop classic in front of a group of backing dancers dressed as giant nuts!

#Wins: The brand managed to ride on the back of the viral wave of the most popular YouTube video of all time. Gangnam Style became a historic piece of pop culture and the existing buzz around the song, not to mention the huge number of UGC tributes gave the video a massive kick to get it noticed.

The catchy song, complete with its topicality and the random WTF nature of the video provided some key sharing triggers and generated a huge twitter buzz around the ad.

It’s not the first time Wonderful Pistachios has capitalised on topical memes either. The brand name has become synonymous with trending YouTube virals with tributes to Keyboard cat, Honey Badger and more recently the Prancercise Lady.

#Fails: When piggybacking on a viral trend timing is everything and unfortunately for Wonderful Pistachios, the brand’s Gangnam Style tribute was just too little too late. With the official video being released in July, the Superbowl ad came nearly 7 months after K-pop first took the web by storm, significantly reducing its viral impact.

Wonderful Pistachios:Psy | Get Crackin (Feb 2013)

Shares: 31,776 | Views: 3,993,532 Share Ratio = 1:125

Communities of Interest:

Conversation Triggers:

CASE STUDIES - Insight into trending ads in the food sector in 2013

WTF

Referential

Topical

LOL

Music Pop culture Internet culture Geek

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Communities• General interest

Triggers• LOL• Referential

Marmite launched a spoof video featuring rescue squads visiting homes to remove neglected jars hidden away in kitchen cupboards.The humorous ad parodied the work of animal protection teams like the RSPCA, causing numerous complaints from viewers claiming the video was making a joke of animal cruelty.

The controversy acted as an effective conversation and sharing trigger, dividing public opinion and cleverly playing on the brand’s ‘Love it, or Hate it’ slogan.

Shares - 21,291 | Views - 502,538 | Share ratio - 1:24 End Marmite Neglect (Aug 2013)

Communities• Film• Pop Culture

Triggers• LOL• Referential• Topical

McDonald’s has a long history of using upcoming children’s films to promote its Happy Meals and Minion Madness provides a good example of the mutual benefits of such partnerships to both brands and film distributors.

The plastic toy based on the cute yellow side kicks from Despicable Me 2 became highly collectable, with customers lining up down the road hoping to get their hands on the latest figurine and the frenzy became a viral talking point for the video across social media channels and online news sites.

Shares - 20,780 | Views - 4,924,966 | Share ratio - 1:237McDonald's: Minion Madness (Jun 2013)

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CASE STUDIES - A snapshot of viral ads in the food sector in 2013

Communities• Parenting

Triggers• LOL• Kawaii

Cheerios released an ad featuring an interracial family. Despite the fact at the ad itself wasn’t controversial it demonstrates the impact that YouTube comments can have on a campaign.

The string of racist posts on the video channel triggered a storm of debate that was picked up by media outlets word wide, leading to extensive coverage across social media channels and giving rise to a string of UGC reaction videos and spoof tributes.

Shares - 47,801 | Views - 4,508,269 | Share ratio - 1:94Cheerios: Just Checking (May 2013)

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OREO Separator Machine (February-March 2013)

Shares: 174,482* | Views: 5,402,632*Share Ratio = 1:31

The Campaign: Following the success of its "Whisper Fight" Super Bowl spot, Oreo continued the Cookie Vs Crème debate by launching the ‘Separator Machine’ campaign. The brand produced a four-part series of YouTube mockumentaries that followed the invention of ingenious cookie separation devices, clocking up a combined total of over 5 million views. The first installment told the story of a genius inventor and his one-man-mission to create a machine to remove the crème from his precious cookie.

#Wins:

Oreo tapped into insight that consumers tended to fall into two categories, those who prefer the cookie part of the Oreo biscuit, and those who preferred the crème.

By building on the cookie vs crème debate they generated conversations across social media channels, encouraging people to pick a side. The campaign formed part of an integrated social media push asking consumers to upload photos to Instagram and Twitter and tag them with #cookiethis or #cremethis. The brand’s creative team then recreated and sculpted their photo submissions using actual OREO cookies or creme.

The separator machine series worked so well because it’s comedy concept and the obsessive attention to details of the machines appealed to the geek community. And by creating a series of ads that were released in installments over a month long period, the brand was able to get extra mileage from the campaign, keeping fans looking for the next installment.

Conversation Triggers:

Communities of Interest:

Internet culture Student Geek

*across all videos in series

LOL

Epic

WTF

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CASE STUDIES - Insight into trending ads in the confectionary sector in 2013

The Campaign: In September 2013, Google announced a somewhat unlikely partnership with Nestle, revealing that it will be calling its next Android operating system KitKat.

The KitKat Facebook, Google+ and Twitter pages were rebranded to feature the little Android mascot covered in chocolate and KitKat released a hilarious spoof video promoting the launch of the new Android KITKAT 4.4.

The ad spot featured the “Chief Breaks Officer” excitedly talking through all the design features that went into making the chocolate bar the ultimate snack product, cleverly poking fun at Apple’s well-known product introduction videos.

#Wins:With the imminent release of the new iPhone 5s just weeks away, the internet was rife with news stories speculating about the new handset, making the timing of the ad particularly relevant and capitalising on the existing media hype.

The newsworthy nature of the unlikely partnership between the chocolate brand and Google acted as a conversation point for the ad, generating over 30,000 shares for the video in the first 24 hours of its release. This, combined with the fact that Apple parodies were trending in the weeks leading up to the release of the latest phone provided plenty of conversation triggers around the amusing parody.

KitKat: Android KITKAT 4.4 (September  2013)

Shares: 30,194 | Views: 2,334,162 Share Ratio = 1:77

Communities of Interest:

Conversation Triggers:

TOP VIRAL VIDEOS - CONFECTIONARY

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Internet cultureGeek

Referential

Topical

LOL

Communities• Internet Culture

Triggers• LOL• WTF

As part of its ‘Not So Sweet’ campaign, Cadbury released a hoax video of a marriage proposal gone wrong. The clip of an unfortunate young man getting hit over the head in a public mall after his would-be fiancée cruelly rejected his proposal was uploaded to YouTube with many believing, thanks in part to the terrible quality and shaky recording skills, that it was a genuine proposal gone wrong.

In fact the hilarious clip was part of a clever viral marketing stunt by Cadbury, the only clue being the Bournville branding on the side of a mall train that drove through the scene.

Shares - 7,546 | Views - 1,000,102 | Share ratio - 1:132Cadbury: Marriage Proposal Gone Wrong (Aug 2013)

Communities• Internet Culture

Triggers• WTF• LOL

The Skittles brand is famed for its quirky ad campaigns including the ‘Sorting Machine’, (a device designed to sort the candies by colour that went viral after being picked up on Reddit) and ‘Touch: Cat’ (a video video featuring a cat that licks a viewers finger once it is placed on screen).

The brand continued the interactive theme with ‘Smash the Rainbow’, another video designed to encourage audience engagement by asking viewers to choose objects from a table to smash in the hope that they might reveal some skittles.

Shares - 1,472 | Views - 196,762 | Share ratio - 1:134Skittles Figurines (June 2013)

Communities• Pop Culture• Music

Triggers• LOL

M&M’s have become well known for comedic ads involving personified chocolate characters and the brand continued the popular theme with its 2013 Super Bowl commercial.

The video featured Glee star, Naya Rivera, being wooed by the red member of the candy family. Set to the soundtrack of ‘I would do Anything for Love’, the little chocolate character embarks on ever more complicated missions to impress her, but it turns out that she’s using him for just one thing… his body.

Shares - 44,235 | Views - 2,821,160 | Share ratio - 1:64M&M'S "Love Ballad" (February 2013)

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CASE STUDIES - A snap shot of viral ads in the confectionary sector in 2013

UGC TRENDS

‘How to’, ‘Life hacks’ and fun educational videos have become a popular UGC theme in the food and drinks sector on YouTube.

Packed full of interesting random facts and fun tips on how to get creative with everyday kitchen items, these videos work well because they are easily accessible and encourage viewer interaction. They appeal to a wide range of online communities and have plenty of viral triggers because they prompt people to try things out at home or share ideas with friends.

Many popular viral sites like BuzzFeed now have dedicated channels that specialise in this type of content. As opposed to traditional cookery videos, which provide practical ‘how to’ tips for the kitchen, the focus of this new viral food trend is on the novelty factor. The emphasis being to share funny, quirky, food based experiments that make amusing party tricks and act as conversation triggers across the social video sphere.

Key UGC ObservationsOnline hacks = IRL snacks

UGC TRENDS

Key UGC ObservationsWith great power comes great shareability

The power of UGC content on brands is not something to be underestimated. 2013 has seen a wide range of YouTube commentary, spoof videos and comedy mashups. Whatever the format, user-generated content extends the reach of an original advert and, in some cases, can significantly impact on the success of a campaign.

The inadvertent online debate caused by the Cheerios ad, ‘Just Checking’ makes for an interesting case in point. There was nothing controversial about the ad itself, but the string of racist YouTube comments reacting to the fact that the video featured a biracial couple prompted a barrage of reactionary videos on YouTube. The most significant of which was, ‘Kids React to Controversial Cheerios Commercial’, by The Fine Brothers, which to a large extent was responsible for the viral reach of the original ad.

A similar effect was seen when the Funny or Die team released a parody video highlighting some of the overtly exploitative advertising messaging in Chipotle’s Scarecrow ad. The remix significantly contributed to the amount of media coverage the brand’s campaign received, prolonging its viral impact , (although possibly not in a way that was beneficial for the Chipotle brand).

TRENDING UGC VIDEOS - FOOD & CONFECTIONARYMisterEpicMann: How Animals Eat Their Food Kbcreativelab: Porn Sex vs Real Sex Mark Rober: Watermelon Smoothie Hack

Views = 84,031,188 | Shares = 1,459,051 | (1:57)

Viral triggers = LOL/ WTF/

Views = 84,031,188 | Shares = 1,459,051 | (1:57)

Viral triggers = LOL/ WTF/ NSFW

Views = 2,636,814 | Shares = 11,736 | (1: 244)

Viral triggers = LOL

John Adamson: Spinning Chocolate Joy Sesame Street: Me Want It (But Me Wait) BuzzFeedVideo: The Guide To Trading Candy

Views = 2,291,850 | Shares = 15,691 | (1: 146)

Viral triggers = Epic / Talent

Views = 1,463,223 | Shares = 40271 | (1: 36)

Viral triggers = LOL

Views = 2,286,966 | Shares = 60,638 | (1:38)

Viral triggers = LOL

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TOP FOOD AND CONFECTIONARY YOUTUBE CHANNELS

Vertical Channel Stats DescriptionEPIC MEAL TIME

Subscribers: 5,726,754

Views: 613,737,995

A Canadian YouTube cooking show known for creating extremely high-calorie meals, most popularly from meat (with particular emphasis on bacon) and including alcohol (especially Jack

Daniels).

NICKO’S KITCHEN

Subscribers:505,415 Views:

91,880,555

One of the biggest online cookery communities in the world started by personable Aussie, Rob Nixon. Self-named the home of

YouTube cooking. Huge channel with food tips, handy hints and recipe ideas.

MY CUPCAKE ADDICTION

Subscribers: 279,832 Views:

29,242,009

An informative guide on how to decorate Cupcakes and Cake Pops like the professionals in free, easy to follow tutorials. With cute, fun frosting techniques and ideas for all kinds of occasion,

this probably one for the ladies out there.

JOY OF BAKING

Subscribers: 189,986 Views:

39,222,401

A demonstration of techniques, tips and recipes from Stephanie Jaworski, an American-Canadian baker with a passion for all

things baking.

BUZZFEED FOOD

Subscribers: 279,832 Views:

29,242,009

Working hand in hand with the website of the same name, Buzzfeed Food mainly concerns itself with food trends and crazy experiments as well as exploring food around the world, nutrition

and lots and lots of eggs.

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Serious Eats Bakers Royale Honey and Jam Thug Kitchen

A food blog focused on sharing food enthusiasm

through online conversation, multiple blogs, and video.

A cozy corner where baking meets random thoughts and

musings.

Photos, repipe ideas and general foodie chit chat from 22 year old Hannah Queen.

Where your narrow dietary minded ass gets thinking

about healthy food. Education and entertainment.

Top with Cinnamon Chow Chasing Delicious Finger, Fork + Knife

An awesome teenage baking blog with recipes,

food photography and food styling.

Recipes, cooking techniques, and news, updated daily.

Utterly devoted to the pleasure of food and drink.

Food + science + more. Your one stop shop for everything

in your kitchen.

Recipes that excite, nourish and inspire with a focus on wholesome ingredients and

high-nutrition.

TOP FOOD AND CONFECTIONARY BLOGS

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TOP TWITTER FEEDS - FOOD & CONFECTIONARY

@Foodimentary

Foodimentary

Followers:861,640

Food, Facts, & Fun. Guaranteed to pepper your day with fun food facts! Impress others with your food knowledge!

@epicurious

epicurious

Followers:433,198

The ultimate food site for people who love to eat.

@CakeJournal

Louise

Followers:18,386

All about making and decorating beautiful cakes, sweet cupcakes and delicious cookies.

@bakingaddiction

Jamie

Followers:16,088

Food Blogger. Recipe Developer. Picture Taker. Lover of all things beautiful.

@GoodFoodNet

Good Food

Followers:2,730

The Good Food Network is a completely new way for you to discover fantastic food and drink in your local area and beyond

@chocablog

Chocablog

Followers:9,516

Dom Ramsey, editor of Chocablog, Chief Chocolate Officer of @CocoaRunners & Co-Founder of World Chocolate Guide.

@dan_lepard

Dan Lepard

Followers:22,995

Writer, baker, snapper and author.

A round up of some of the most influential Twitter personalities in the Food and Confectionary sector worth a follow!

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SEARCH TRENDS IN THE FOOD & CONFECTIONARY SECTOR

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Food & Drink web search Food & Drink Youtube search

* See Google Trends for details on how this is calculated

Data from Google Trends has shown a 30% increase in the number of food and drinks related internet searches during the past 3 years, with noticeable annual trends related to public holidays visible in web searches.

Interest in food and drinks across the net tends to peak in both November and December, coinciding with Thanks Giving and Christmas and reflecting a rise in searches for recipe ideas, cooking tips, restaurants and bars. Whilst YouTube search has seen a similar rise in interest in the food and drinks sector over time, data shows that the site is less prone to seasonal peaks and troughs.

Weekly trends are also visible in web searches across the food and drinks sector, with a noticeable peak in interest at the weekend reflecting increased search for recipes, and food related recreational activities.

A comparison of the volume of food related internet searches across the web and YouTube during the past 3 years

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