2018’s Most Popular YouTube Ads in Malaysia

What’s your favourite YouTube Ad?

Google Malaysia has released the YouTube Ads Leaderboard for the January-June 2018 period for Malaysia. This list represents the top 10 ads Malaysians watched on YouTube through a combination of popularity and promotion.

What are the trends observed from this half-year leaderboard?

All-out festivities. The half-year list is almost completely dominated by seasonal ads, capturing various moments from two of Malaysia’s important festive celebrations – Hari Raya Aidilfitri and the Lunar New Year. The crown for the best seasonal ad goes to Astro Gempak’s comedic short film that tells the dilemma of a fashionable delivery guy.

Not too short, not too long, but just right. Unlike previous years where long-form ads dominated the list, this year’s contenders have opted for a balance between the traditional 30-seconds TV ad duration and sketches that extended into the double-digit minute mark. This allows brands like Tenaga Nasional Berhad to tell compelling stories whilst still capturing the attention of viewers.

Ever-improving production quality. One thing that has not changed is the ads’ production quality. Brands are constantly pushing the creative envelope to produce ads that play off more like TV dramas and feature films, both in looks and substance.

1.Gaya Raya Paling Ori – Filem Pendek Astro Raya 2018

2. Tan Yin Ern x Jeffrey Chen x Jeslyn “There Is A Dream in Spring”

3. Geng Sakat Raya (Yakult Raya 2018)

4. Samsung – Raya Last Minit

5.KFC Raya 2018: Dendam Adam

6.TNB Raya 2018 – Rumah Epik Fantastik

7.#PETRONAS CNY 2018: A Long Way Home

8.Maxis CNY 2018 – It’s time to HuatAR

9. McDonald’s Malaysia – No rice where can?

10.5 Sekawan Selamanya – Chinese New Year Short Film by Celcom

These ads continue to remind us of the amazing creative talent that the Malaysian ad industry possesses, and that going digital isn’t all about getting technical with technology. In fact, digital first ads on YouTube enables brands and agencies to spend more time doing what they do best — doing and getting creative.