The 5 Most Viral Brands of 2011

As the year draws to a close, it’s time to look back and reflect on which brands did the most awesome viral stuff throughout 2011.

Not just judged on views and shares, we also took into account creativity, innovation and a flair for knowing your way around ‘the internets’.

T- Mobile

The flashmob kings, T-Mobile had an excellent year as they racked up over 34 million views on some of their biggest videos. The T-Mobile parking ticket, a large scale reenactment of Angry Birds and the ever topical ‘Royal Wedding Dance’ – see below.

Most impressive was the sheer number of shares, which came in at over 1 million on Twitter and Facebook collectively.

Old Spice

Old Spice managed to keep a good thing going, by using 2011 to introduce new characters, create a dialogue and have fans wishing for the good old days. Fabio may not have been a big hit with the viewers, but the videos of the long haired lothario soon gained notoriety on the web, even trending on Twitter and racking up over 5 million views over a series of videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H73O8zaHmAo

Volkswagen

It seems like just yesterday a mini vader wandered into our lives and melted even the most hardened of advertising hearts. The Force ad may have been born on television, but the internet took it as its own and it currently stands at a whopping 44 million views. With other brands making parodies, even Rubber Towers couldn’t resist the pull as we created our very own version for the release of Thor.

Nike

At the beginning of September, Nike teased us with a slightly creepy video of Marty McFly’s closet and shoe nerds everywhere went a bit nuts. It was just a taste of things to come though, as not only had they released a short film choc full of nostalgia they had invited a bunch of key bloggers to witness the release through the medium of a mystery box. Who doesn’t love a mystery box, eh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yiSdjwi_bg

Carlsberg

Just when you thought the flashmob was dead… Carlsberg breathes new life into it. Not the biggest, most well rounded campaign, but from the word go this had viral written all over it.