Top 10 Indian ads on YouTube in July 2016

Tata Salt and Air Asia are a couple of surprise entries this time around.

We're back again with a detailed report on the top brand advertisements on YouTube in India. Like in the previous month, Google India once again tops the charts. Tata Salt and Air Asia are a couple of surprise entries this time around.

Here are the top 10 most-watched Indian ads on YouTube for the month of July:

Note: All stats are updated till July 31.

10. Support Shiva Thapa at Rio 2016 #NamakKeWaastey

With the biggest Indian contingent set to compete in the upcoming Rio Olympics, Tata Salt launched its #NamakKeWaastey campaign across social platforms on July 13. The campaign has been put together by OglivyOne India, and, so far, four video ads have been launched, showcasing relatively lesser known Indian sports stars such as Babita Kumari and Shiva Thapa.

Set to a thumping and motivational background score, this particular ad shows boxer Shiva Thapa as he explains his rigorous training regimen that includes an 18 km run, 1,000 crunches, 500 push-ups, and 3,000 skips every day! The video has been viewed over 890,000 times, and has an average watch time of almost a minute!

Stats:

Run time: 1:10

Average watch time: 0:57

Views: 891,442

Average views per hour: 1957

9: Brahman Naman trailer by Netflix

Ever since Netflix entered India in January, it has been constantly competing with its Indian counterparts like Voot, Hotstar, and even YouTube! With a content library that is not as vast as the one in the US, it was always an uphill struggle for the video-streaming giant unless it could come with shows or movies exclusively for the Indian audience. However, things are going to change in the next few months with Netflix announcing exclusive shows such as 'Commitment' and 'Sacred Games' for its Indian customers.

At Number 9 is the advert for the trailer of Brahman Naman, a movie by controversial director Qaushiq Mukherjee. The movie is available exclusively on Netflix in India, and this trailer ad has clocked over one million views so far on YouTube:

Stats:

Run time: 1:33

Average watch time: 1:17

Views: 1,031,958

Average views per hour: 1627

8. Colgate - The Shine Song Feat. Shraddha Sharma

Remember YouTube singing sensation Shraddha Sharma? With over 200,000 thousand subscribers on YouTube now, Sharma was one of the first online stars to capture the imagination of youngsters in the country. In this video, sponsored by Colgate, she croons "The Shine Song" with rapper Big Deal. The video has clocked over 1.2 million views so far:

Stats:

Run time: 2:15

Average watch time: 1:22

Views: 1,205,759

Average views per hour: 2771

7. #AirAsiaKabali - The making of the Kabali livery

The release of a Rajinikanth movie is usually a huge event in itself. AirAsia launched this advert a couple of days before the release of the superstar's new movie 'Kabali'. The ad shows how an AirAsia aircraft was partially painted and stickered with the image of Rajinikanth from the movie. The video has over 1.2 million views so far and has been shared more than 2,000 times!

Stats:

Run time: 1:33

Average watch time: 1:15

Views: 1,214,591

Average views per hour: 3918

6. What's happening? Cleartrip Local Delhi

The advert by Cleartrip promoting its mobile app Local was targeted specifically at people in Delhi. With over 1.4 million views so far, the video is clocking 2,533 views on an average every hour.

Stats:

Run time: 0:45

Average watch time: 0:42

Views: 1,451,576

Average views per hour: 2528

5. Samsung Galaxy J2 2016: Official TVC

The new TV commercial for Samsung Galaxy J2, featuring the dad-son duo of Pankaj Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor, has been received well on YouTube as well. The average view duration of the 45-second ad stands at a very respectable 41 seconds, and the video has over 3.1 million views so far.

Stats:

Run time: 0:45

Average watch time: 0:41

Views: 3,114,444

Average views per hour: 7965

4. Nike Presents Da Da Ding

With a pumping background track by Gener8ion and rapper Gizelle, this commercial by Nike celebrates the passion for sports in Indian women. Besides Deepika Padukone, the commercial also features women athletes like Ishita Malaviya, Smriti Mandana, and Rani Rampal. Created by the popular advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, the video is directed by Frenchman François Rousselet.

With over 3.5 million views and 23,000 shares just on YouTube, the ad is arguably the best performing in the whole list.

Note: The ad has clocked over 3.6 million views and 33,000 shares on Facebook so far!

Stats:

Run time: 2:52

Average watch time: 1:45

Views: 3,601,500

Average views per hour: 7020

3. New Surf Excel Matic Liquid

Surf Excel is usually right on the money whenever they launch a new commercial. (Remember its successful Ramzan commercial last month?)

The latest TVC showcasing its new product Matic Liquid has been viewed over 4.1 million times on YouTube so far!

Stats:

Run time: 0:54

Average watch time: NA

Views: 4,173,925

Average views per hour: 5610

2. Make in India by MasterCard

Ever since the Modi Government launched the 'Make in India' initiative, it has captured the imagination of millions of people in the country. The ad by MasterCard explains how it has approached the initiative by investing close to a half billion dollars in the past two years to shift most of its operations to India. Watched over 4.7 million times so far, it stands at the second spot.

Stats:

Run time: 3:43

Average watch time: 2:11

Views: 4,731,890

Average views per hour: 7370

1. Google Search - Answers Made Easy: Movie Show Times

At Number 1 this time is once again Google India. In the last few months, Google India has been producing some really nice story-telling ads. After its immensely successful Bollywood story commercial, it has come up with three more ads (which have clocked collectively over 14 million views so far!), perfectly targetting the psyche of the Indian audience.

This advert in particular has been viewed over 4.8 million times so far on YouTube:

Stats:

Run time: 0:30

Average watch time: 0:26

Views: 4,804,338

Average views per hour: 7117

Other highlights:

Tata Salt, an official sponsor of the Indian Olympic Contingent, has released four new ads to celebrate the occasion. Collectively, they have clocked over 3.8 million views so far.

The Delhi Government also tried its hands at YouTube advertising this time around. The ad (featuring singer Vishal Dadlani) has clocked over 490,000 views so far.

Star Movies has been promoting its new Book Adaptations festival on Star Movies Select HD through YouTube ads as well. It has released two ads which have collectively clocked over 460,000 views so far.

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