The Top 10 Most Watched Indian Ads on YouTube in March 2018

Samsung tops the chart.

March 2018 was the month of comebacks in advertising for a couple of India's biggest brands. Pepsi came up with a new hilarious campaign #KyunSookheSookheHi, whereas in a bid to attract and retain customers, IDEA is back with its Nirvana Plans. After launching an online poll on 'Why does India #HateCondoms', Durex is in the top 10 with its raunchy ad for Durex AiR.

Conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather, Lenovo's #GiftThemDreams campaign raises an important question of, "Will it be so easy for a small-town child to achieve their dreams?" The campaign aims to offer laptops at affordable rates and encourages parents to support children's' dreams.

Here are the advertisements that generated the most viewership for the month for March 2018.

NOTE

Subrat Kar

All the stats here are updated on March 30, 2018.

• Only advertisements launched in March of 2018 are considered.

• The list does not include ads (about the video content) by another content provider platform like Netflix India and Hotstar.

• The overall audience sentiment that is mentioned below each advertisement is based on the number of views, likes, dislikes, and watch-time and comments.

1. Samsung Inverter Refrigerator: Runs During Power Cuts

Samsung has come up with an innovative Digital Inverter Refrigerator that functions even during power cuts using your home's inverter. The advertisement strikes an emotional chord showcasing the caring bond between a mother and daughter.

Just like how a mother takes care of her child, this refrigerator does the same for your needs, even in a power cut. With more than 28.1 million views, this advertisement stands on the first spot of this month's top advertisements from India.

2. Idea Postpaid Nirvana Plans - When it's all taken care of!

With this new ad campaign, Idea urges you to question yourself - what is Nirvana? The advertisement provides an appropriate answer to that query by highlighting the Idea Postpaid Nirvana Plans which allow you to carry forward unused data, provide device security, avail of a 20 per cent family discount, use up to 300 GB of data per month, have unlimited calls and SMS and a whole lot more. Hence, the tagline of the campaign is - Nirvana isse kehte hain.

With more than 21.8 million views, this advertisement stands on the second spot of this month's top advertisements from India.

3. Hide & Seek Biscuit Black Bourbon Brand TVC HD 15 ENGLISH

Hide & Seek has launched its Black Bourbon range of biscuits with a crisp ad campaign. The advertisement is as short as 15 seconds and all throughout it, the brand highlights the biscuit and its rich cocoa cream filling in a very visually appealing way.

Despite its simplicity, it has managed to rack up more than 21.6 million views and thus sits on the third spot of this month's top advertisements from India.

4. Samsung Galaxy S9 | S9+ with Super Slow-mo at 960FPS

Samsung has consistently churned out new and innovative smartphones over the years. In this ad campaign for the launch of Samsung Galaxy S9, Samsung has created a crisp 10 second campaign that is suitable for the digital audience. The product comes with Super Slow-motion that makes your everyday videos epic, in the blink of an eye. At 960 FPS, the camera radically slows down time, giving you incredibly captivating videos.

With more than 20.9 million views, this advertisement sits on the fourth spot of this month's top advertisements from India.

5. #LoveDurexAIR

Durex has always come up with quirky campaigns. And this time, to launch its new product Durex AIR, they have created a scintillating advertisement where a couple is indulging in a passionate dance form while ripping off each other's clothes off. The product is aimed at those people who have hated using condoms. It is guaranteed to reach a new level of intimacy with Durex AiR. A condom so thin, it's like it's not even there.

With more than 20.5 million views, this advertisement sits on the fifth spot of this month's top advertisements from India.

6. #FreshItUp with Amazon Fashion!

For their brand new campaign for #FreshItUp, Amazon has roped in the young and vibrant Bollywood faces, Saqib Saleem and Yami Gautam. In the advertisement, they are seen wearing fresh fashion options which are now available on Amazon. From a romantic beach date to mountain hikes, they experience it all with the #FreshItUp Amazon Fashion.

With more than 19.94 million views, this advertisement sits on the sixth spot of this month's top advertisements from India.

7. #TakePleasureSeriously with Magnum

With their new ad campaign, the extravagant Magnum brand urges its audience to #TakePleasureSeriously because they do too, while creating it. The advertisement showcases the product in a visually appealing way as a woman indulges in its rich Madagascan Vanilla, Crunchy Australian Almonds and High-Quality Belgian Chocolate with Expertly Crafted Magnum Almond flavours.

With more than 17.6 million views, this advertisement sits on the seventh spot of this month's top advertisements from India.

8. Let your child reach the stars. #GiftThemDreams

The new Lenovo #GiftThemDreams campaign is a story of a young girl named Santo who aspires to be an astronaut. At first, her parents resist her peculiar dream, but eventually come to terms with it when they see her passion for it. In order to let her dreams soar high, they gift her a Lenovo laptop so that she can fulfil her dreams. After all, kids and their dreams deserve a chance. The advertisement has an emotional storyline and connects well with viewers.

So far it has garnered more than 17.3 million views and sits on the eighth spot of this month's top advertisements from India.

9. LG OLED TV - Dolby Cinematic Experience

In this ad campaign from LG, it begs to differ with other standard TV advertisements which only focus on the picture quality that their new OLED TV provides. It talks about the colour black which helps create perfect colours. The black levels make all the colours more detailed and stunning as it lends the perfect intensity to each by enhancing their hidden details making them and the overall viewing experience all the more stunning.

The advertisement showcases how the colour black makes a difference by comparing visuals from other LED TVs to this LG OLED TV. With more than 17.09 million views, this advertisement sits on the ninth spot of this month's top advertisements from India.

10. The Adventures of Hunny, Laali and Choocha #KyunSookheSookheHi

For its new #KyunSookheSookheHi ad campaign, Pepsi has roped in the Fukrey characters Choocha, Hunny and Laali. The advertisement is portrayed as a scene from a movie where Choocha is craving a samosa while departing along the train. His buddy Hunny manages to get him a plate just in time but forgets to get a Pepsi along with it.

With more than 14.5 million views, this advertisement sits on the last spot of this month's top advertisements from India.

(The author is co-founder and CEO at Vidooly, a YouTube audience development and analytics firm.)