The Science of Sharing

The need for “contagious content,” how to create highly shareable

video ads, and an analysis of which brands are doing this well

An Unruly White Paper, July 2013

1.0 Executive Summary
Unruly Labs help brands to
understand, measure and
increase the ROI of their
online video ad campaigns.
Unruly’s exclusive data,
cutting-edge technologies and
insight into viewers’ emotional
responses, sharing motivators,
user engagement and more,
help brands formulate their
entire campaign strategy.
This paper uses content
and sharing analysis from
Unruly ShareRank™, which
is powered by a proprietary
algorithm containing 100+
variables, trained from a data
set of over 329 billion video
views and 10,000+ consumer
responses to predict the social
impact of video content.
Unruly ShareRank identifies
which parts of the video
provoke the strongest viewer
responses – which in turn
drive sharing – so brands can:
• C reate highly shareable
content
• Improve the shareability of
existing content
• P lan a distribution strategy
to maximize sharing and
account for earned media
The paper examines 12
television commercials from
Super Bowl XLVII, which
aired on February 3, 2013 to
uncover why top shared ads
performed well online and
others didn’t. Super Bowl ads
were selected in order to
provide a group norm from
which to benchmark other
ads, as well as to provide
as level a playing field as
possible (all ads aired in the
same event on the same day).
The 12 ads we tested were
selected from the 94 Super
Bowl ads that aired in total
with a view to providing a
representative sample of
sharing performance and
industry sector.
Unruly ShareRank includes
100+ viral variables that affect
shareability; two of the most
significant drivers of sharing
are psychological responses to
an ad and social motivations
to share it. Videos that score
highly across these two
dimensions are likely to share
strongly. The Super Bowl
study revealed that:
• T
 he majority of brands aim
to create funny content.
But this is dangerous. The
psychological response of
hilarity can be incredibly
effective when done well
or combined with another
trigger. But, ads need to be
extremely funny to impress
consumers worn down by
having been subjected to a
glut of humorous ads.
• A
 ds must also give viewers a
strong reason to share (what
we call social motivations),
and ideally more than one,
to generate earned shares
and views. Ads that offered
weak social motivations,
even when paired with
strong psychological
responses from viewers, had
very low share rates.
• A
 spot does not need to
appeal to mass audiences in
order to succeed. A strong
response from a brand’s
target audience can lift a
spot to higher sharing levels.
• T
 he average Super Bowl
2013 ShareRank score was
a 4.8 (out of 10 available
points and versus the 4.7
average ShareRank for
branded content). Brands
that scored higher than
this saw greatly improved
sharing.
Table of Contents

1.0 Executive Summary page 2

1.1 Challenges Faced by Brand Marketers page 4

1.2 The Impact of Social Video: Sharing and Brand Lift page 5

2.0 Recipe for Creating Shareable, “Contagious” Content page 6

2.1 Insights on Why the Most Shared Ads Work – and Why Others Don’t page 8

2.2 Overview of Ads page 10

2.3 Case Studies – the Top Shared Ads of Super Bowl XLVII page 14

3.0 Conclusion page 16

3.1 What to do if Your Content Earns a Low Unruly ShareRank Score? page 19

3
1.1 Challenges Faced by Brand Marketers
Just over a decade into the
new millennium, marketers
are in a bind. Brands and
agencies are caught in a
“perfect storm” of increased
competition in the battle for
consumers’ share of mind and
share of wallet. Not only are
there a greater number of
products, each with its own
marketing and advertising
messages, but also a greater
number of media vehicles
across a growing number
of platforms and channels.
The global recession has put
pressure on consumers’ spend
levels. Corporate budgets
are also under pressure, and
marketers continue to seek
out increased efficiencies
and prove that advertising
converts viewers to action.
1 Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey, April 2012
2 IBM’s State of Marketing Survey, 2012
3 Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey, April 2012
4 McKinsey Quarterly, 2010
5 ZenithOptimedia, December 2012
Consumers’ trust in
traditional advertising (radio,
newspapers, magazines
and TV) is waning, down
23% between 2009 and
20121. Marketers’ inability
to reliably measure the
effectiveness of campaigns
that run in traditional
media is high on the list of
challenges2. Meanwhile,
recommendations from
peers are trusted by 95% of
consumers3. Word of mouth
generates advocacy, which
has been demonstrated to
be up to 50 times more likely
to trigger a purchase than a
passively-viewed message4.
As a result, advertisers are
dedicating resources to
content marketing in order to
generate positive advocacy
(aka word of mouth or pass-
along) among their target
audiences.
This competitive climate also
offers new opportunities.
Consumers are now more
connected and able to
immediately act on an
advertiser’s message at
home and on the go. Device
proliferation offers new
opportunities to reinforce
brands’ messages and build a
connection with consumers
anytime and anywhere.
Online video is now the
fastest growing advertising
channel, up 30% in 20125. The
most talked about brands
have discovered that social
video leverages the best
attributes of the media it
harnesses – the emotional
power of video and the
targeted interactivity of
the internet – and are using
this non-interruptive, user-
initiated ad format to bring
their brand messages into the
social space.
But, with 100 hours of
content uploaded to YouTube
every minute and four billion
items shared on Facebook
every day, even the social
space is getting cluttered,
and brands are finding they
need top-notch content and
a smart distribution strategy
to guarantee viewership and
stimulate pass-along.
1.2 The Impact of Social Video: Sharing and Brand Lift
Unruly’s research has
established that when viewers
feel something–strongly–as a
result of watching videos they
are compelled to share them
with people in their network,
amplifying the awareness of
these branded messages.
Brands benefit from people
sharing their content. Third
party research has shown
that social viewers (people
who watch content shared
with them vs. those who find
the videos themselves by
browsing or watching pre-roll)
are far more likely to act after
watching branded content.
6 Decipher Research Study 2011
A recent study measuring Video enjoyment is also
the effectiveness of social the key to driving ROI:
video advertising across CPG/ viewers who enjoy a video
FMCG brands found that after demonstrate +97% higher
viewing a branded video: purchase intent over people
• 4
 9% of respondents claimed who watched the video but
to have purchased the did not enjoy the content.
product
• 3
 8% claimed to have spoken But how can brands
with someone about the repeatedly and consistently
product create enjoyable content that
• 1
 3% claimed to have visited viewers want to share?
the product’s home page
• 9
 % claimed to have
searched for the advertised
product on a search engine
• S
 ocial recommendations
increased brand recall and
association by +7%
• V
 ideo enjoyment increased
by +14%6 .
5
2.0 Recipe for Creating Shareable, “Contagious” Content

Videos that garner millions of
shares have been seen as rare,
unrepeatable outliers.
However, using data from
the Unruly Viral Video Chart
(www.viralvideochart.com)
and thousands of responses
from consumer panels,
Unruly has discovered that
the success of “water cooler”
content can both be predicted
and repeated.
Unruly ShareRank predicts
the shareability of branded
content prior to a launch
and provides actionable
suggestions advertisers can
implement to make their
videos more shareable.

Predicting a social video hit is no

longer about luck. Videos that
elicit high intensity, positive
emotions are three times more
likely to be shared than videos
that elicit low intensity, negative
emotions. It means CMOs can
now confidently predict the
effectiveness of their content
marketing investment.”
Dr. Karen Nelson-Field
Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science
The following Unruly
ShareRank Score Card
shows some of the key
psychological responses and
social motivations that affect
shareability.
Figure 1: S core Card
Our data shows that brands
need to elicit a strong viewer
response against at least one
psychological trigger and
multiple social motivations to
achieve a high share rate.
7
 2.1 Insights on Why the Most Shared Ads Work and Why Others Don’t

The Super Bowl is a showcase This report reveals why The most shared ads in
for some of the best TV the winners were so our study evoked intense
commercials of the year. The successful, and what the emotional responses,
ads receive as much coverage underperformers could have including warmth, happiness,
as the game itself – and done differently to increase awe and pride. These ads
many fans tune in simply to their videos’ social currency. also successfully leveraged
watch the commercials. One key social motivations, such
might think the world-class The Super Bowl is the year’s as attention grabbing, shared
creatives that air in the Super greatest ad sharing event. emotional response and
Bowl would all have high Year-over-year sharing grew zeitgeist. The top shared ads
social currency across the by 118% from 2012 to 20137, had markedly stronger Unruly
web. Not so! Our sample of with Super Bowl teasers and ShareRank scores, over and
12 ads includes content with ads generating 7,739,917 above the Super Bowl norm of
strong, average and low video shares in 2013, up from 4.8 (out of 10 possible points).
share rates (shares as a % of 3,546,560 shares in 2012. With one exception – which
views) from the Automotive, we’ll cover below.
CPG, Entertainment and
Technology sectors.

Extremely Sociable Unruly Viral Video Brotherhood 1

High
Strength of Primary Social Motivation

Chart Topper Farmer 3

The Lone Ranger 7

Asking Amy 5 4 Get In. Get Happy.

6 Space Babies
Chase 9 2
10 Test Track

Lifeguard 11 Fast and Furious 6

12 Party

8 Perfect Match
Low

Made for TV Emotional Wringer

Low Intensity of Primary Psychological Response High

Figure 2: W
 ill it share? quadrant chart

Unruly Viral Video Extremely Sociable Made for TV Emotional Wringer

Chart Topper This content gives viewers a This content isn’t made for This content provokes a
This content’s going to trend. strong social motivation to sharing online. Either it’s been strong emotional response.
It elicits powerful emotions share, but it doesn’t elicit a designed for TV, not designed Unfortunately, it doesn’t give
in viewers and gives them strong enough emotion in for sharing, or doesn’t elicit people a reason to share or
a reason to share. With the viewers to be an Unruly Viral strong enough emotions in they don’t want to be seen to
right distribution strategy, Video Chart topper. the viewer or give them a be sharing it.
this video will very likely soar reason to share.
to the top of the Unruly Viral
Video Chart and trend on
multiple platforms.

7 Date range is from the Super Bowl broadcast + 2 months

 The least shared ads triggered Figure 2 shows a scatter The 12 Super Bowl ads in our
low levels of hilarity and chart of the 12 ads tested study are presented in the
surprise, and didn’t resonate in our study. Although we following pages. Figure 2,
with audiences. These ads also selected an even number of Unruly’s Will It Share? chart,
caused viewer confusion as an ads from high-, middle-, and illustrates the intensity of the
unintentional outcome. poorly-shared rankings, you psychological responses and
can see that the majority of social motivations factors
Traditionally, the Automotive the sample ads fell into the that affect the shareability of
sector emerges as the “extremely sociable” category. these ads. The two strongest
strongest vertical in terms of The majority of Super Bowl ads “Brotherhood” and
Super Bowl sharing, producing ads researched in our study “Farmer” both elicited intense
the most successful ads of tried to raise a laugh, but were psychological responses with
2011 (VW’s “The Force”) and not funny enough to elicit strong social motivations to
2012 (Chevrolet’s “Ok Go sharing. share, with great effect.
Needing Getting”). However,
in 2013 Autos conceded Since many of these ads “Perfect Match” from
the number one spot to the already provoked a strong GoDaddy sits alone in
CPG sector and Budweiser’s motivation to share, adjusting “emotional wringer” territory
“Brotherhood.” the creative to intensify at the bottom of the Will
viewers’ emotional reactions It Share? chart and real-life
would shift many of the share rankings. It elicited a
“extremely sociable” ads over strong psychological response
to “chart topper” status. in the panel, but only weak
motivations to share which
held back its performance.

Hilarity
High

Happiness
Intensity of Primary psychological response

Awe
Exhiliration
Warmth
Pride
Nostalgia
Sadness
Pain
Disgust
Contempt
Knowledge
Surprise
Shock
Confusion
Fear (Flight)
Anger (Flight)
Sexual Arousal
Low

Bubble size
represents the
Farmer

Get In.
Get Happy.

Space
Babies

Perfect
Match

Lifeguard

Asking
Amy

The Lone
Ranger

Party

Test
Track

Brotherhood

Chase

Fast and
Furious 6

proportion of
respondents for
whom the response
was primary.

Figure 3: K
 ey psychological responses evoked by ads, this chart illustrates the factors that drove
sharing activity for the 12 ads studied. The chart shows an abundance of red circles
indicating attempts to provoke hilarity in viewers. With 10 of the 12 ads sampled leaning
on hilarity to get a reaction from viewers, the response loses its potency.
9
 2.2 Overview of Ads

35%

30%

25%

20%
2
Share rate

15%

10%

5
3
5%

6 7
4
8
11 9
0% 12 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ShareRank™

US norm Super Bowl norm

Figure 4: U
 nruly ShareRank chart with ads sampled
1 7.8
ShareRank

5.6
Budweiser Score
Brotherhood
7

2 4.2
ShareRank
Disney
The Lone Ranger
ShareRank
Score

3.1
Universal Score
The Fast and the Furious
8

3 7.3
ShareRank
GoDaddy
Perfect Match
ShareRank
Score

3.9
Ram Score
The Farmer
9

4 5.3
ShareRank
Coca-Cola
Coke Chase
ShareRank
Score

4.2
Volkswagen Score
Get in. Get Happy.
10

5 4.7
ShareRank
Fiat
Test Track
ShareRank
Score

3.1
Best Buy Score
Asking Amy
11

6 4.6
ShareRank
Axe
Lifeguard
ShareRank
Score

3.2
Kia Score
Space Babies
12
ShareRank
Pepsi Score
Party

11
 Budweiser
1 Brotherhood
Unruly ShareRank score
7.8 (+78.9% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
2,096,560
Psychological Responses evoked
Happiness (8.7)
Warmth (8.3)
Sadness (8.0)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 3.4 (+29.4% Super Bowl avg)
Shared Emotional Experience
Reaction-Seeking
Social Utility
“Brotherhood” performed strongly
because it told a moving story of
loss and redemption. Sadness scored
highly early in the ad, which served to
intensify viewers’ feelings of happiness
experienced later on in the video. The
video also benefitted from the use of
Fleetwood Mac’s emotive “Landslide” and
gave viewers multiple reasons to share.
Volkswagen
4 Get in. Get Happy.
Unruly ShareRank score
5.3 (+10.4% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
346,006
Psychological Responses evoked
Happiness (8.6)
Confusion (7.3)
Hilarity (7.1)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 2.9 (+8.2% Super Bowl avg)
Reaction-Seeking
Self Expression
VW’s ad evoked hilarity and happiness
in the nationally representative panel.
However, hilarity is a commonly-used
trigger and needs to be experienced
extremely intensely to generate high
sharing. Unfortunately the ad was not
funny enough to cut through the slew of
other Super Bowl ads also trying to be
funny. More viewers’ primary response to
the ad was confusion.
Unruly ShareRank score is out of 10 possible points
Psychological Response intensity is out of 10 possible points
Social Motivations score is out of 5 possible points
Universal
2 The Fast and
the Furious
Unruly ShareRank score
4.2 (-12.5% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
1,501,129
Psychological Responses evoked
Exhilaration (7.6)
Hilarity (7.0)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 3.1 (+17.2% Super Bowl avg)
Zeitgeist
Reaction-Seeking
Tested against the general population,
the Fast and the Furious trailer didn’t
resonate strongly. Yet, it had an excellent
share rate due to the trailer’s strong
appeal to young men. Shared passion,
social utility, reaction-seeking and self-
expression are all elicited in this demo.
Best Buy
5 Asking Amy
Unruly ShareRank score
4.7 (-2.1% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
43,512
Psychological Responses evoked
Knowledge (7.4)
Hilarity (7.0)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 2.9 (+7.6% Super Bowl avg)
Reaction-Seeking
Social Utility
Zeitgeist
“Asking Amy” used a not-so-tech-savvy
consumer asking a host of questions
to a dialled-in Best Buy staffer, played
by comedian Amy Poehler. The ad is
light-hearted, with high scores for hilarity
and knowledge in a large proportion of
viewers. It effectively informs viewers
of the products Best Buy sells and the
expertise of their staff in an amusing way.
Ram
3 The Farmer
Unruly ShareRank score
7.3 (+52.1% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
823,691
Psychological Responses evoked
Pride (9.0)
Warmth (8.6)
Happiness (8.6)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 3.3 (+22.4% Super Bowl avg)
Reaction-Seeking
“Farmer” was the top Autos ad of the
Super Bowl, scoring highest for both
social motivation and psychological
response. It stood out with its serious
approach, re-interpreting the image of
the noble American farmer for the 21st
century, and in doing so evoked feelings
of national pride, warmth and happiness.
Kia
6 Space Babies
Unruly ShareRank score
4.6 (-4.2% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
140,690
Psychological Responses evoked
Hilarity (7.4)
Warmth (6.9)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 2.7 (-0.4% Super Bowl avg)
Reaction-Seeking
Shared Emotional Experience
Hilarity and warmth were the strongest
panel reactions to Kia’s cute spot. The
content ranked below the Super Bowl
sample’s norms for both ShareRank score
and Social Motivations, pushing it to the
border of “extremely sociable” and “Made
for TV” sectors of the Will It Share? chart
(Figure 2).
 Disney
7 The Lone Ranger
Unruly ShareRank score
5.6 (+16.7% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
25,419
Psychological Responses evoked
Exhilaration (7.8)
Surprise (7.8)
Nostalgia (7.4)
Hilarity (7.3)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 3.2 (+17.2% Super Bowl avg)
Zeitgeist
Reaction-Seeking
Shared Emotional Experience
Social Utility
Shared Passion
Sharing of The Lone Ranger trailer was
driven by its high social motivation score
and good mix of psychological responses,
offering “something for everyone” to
appeal to a diverse audience. The ad
evoked multiple social motivations
(zeitgeist, reaction-seeking, shared
emotional experience, social utility and
shared passion) giving viewers reasons
A, B, C, D and E to share, broadening
its potential.
Fiat
10 Test Track
Unruly ShareRank score
4.2 (-12.5% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
1,372
Psychological Responses evoked
Surprise (7.8)
Arousal (7.6)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 2.5 (-7.9% Super Bowl avg)
Elicited Reaction-Seeking
Shared Emotional Experience
Fiat tried to utilize a primal trigger, sexual
arousal, but only elicited this response
among 10% of its viewers. The chief
psychological response that registered
was surprise, but viewers were not
sufficiently surprised to be compelled
to share the ad. While two social
motivations registered, they did so too
weakly to benefit sharing.
GoDaddy
8 Perfect Match
Unruly ShareRank score
3.1 (-35.4% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
138,885
Psychological Responses evoked
Shock (8.2)
Disgust (7.8)
Surprise (7.2)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 1.7 (-35.2% Super Bowl avg)
Attention-Seeking
Shared Emotional Experience
GoDaddy evoked strong psychological
responses (surprise, shock and disgust),
but still generated a low ShareRank score
and share rate as a result of its very low
social motivations (35% below the Super
Bowl sample norm). Although viewers
felt a strong emotional reaction to this
controversial piece of content, the ad
alienated the general public, which
inhibited sharing.
Axe
11 Lifeguard
Unruly ShareRank score
3.1 (-35.4% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
9,886
Psychological Responses evoked
Surprising (7.1)
Hilarity (6.5)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 2.3(-14.7% Super Bowl avg)
Reaction-Seeking
Axe created an ad filled with bikini-clad
beach-goers, but this brand – famous for
sexy, attraction-based spots – did not
push the envelope far enough to elicit
intense psychological responses or social
motivations. Many viewers in our study
had trouble connecting the astronaut
to the beach theme and found the ad
confusing. Only one social motivation
registered, and it did so too mildly to
motivate sharing.
Coca-Cola
9 Coke Chase
Unruly ShareRank score
3.9 (-18.8% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
28,380
Psychological Responses evoked
Hilarity (7.3)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 2.6 (-3.8% Super Bowl avg)
Attention-Seeking
Shared Emotional Experience
Like many other ads, “Chase” was made to
be funny, but only triggered a mild hilarity
response. The content did not elicit any
other strong psychological responses
from the panel, leaving Coca-Cola without
a fall back option to highly engage
its audience. The social motivations
registered mildly, and “Chase” hovers
between “sociable” and “Made for TV” in
the Will It Share? chart.
Pepsi
12 Party
Unruly ShareRank score
3.2 (-33.3% Super Bowl avg)
Shares
3,089
Psychological Responses evoked
Hilarity (7.4)
Social Motivations evoked
Overall 2.7 (-0.4% Super Bowl avg)
Reaction-Seeking
Shared Emotional Experience
“Party” evoked a mild hilarity response,
but needed an intense viewer response
along this dimension to break through.
Without another psychological response
registering with the panel, viewers didn’t
feel a strong emotion when watching
the video. The ad had a slightly below
average social motivation, and fell into
the “made for TV” quadrant of the Will It
Share? chart.
13
 2.3 Case Study: the Top Shared Ads of Super Bowl XLVII
#1 Shared Ad from the Super Bowl:
Budweiser’s “Brotherhood”
Budweiser improved upon
its 2012 ad (“Flash Fans”)
by moving away from the
use of hilarity to create a
distinctive piece of content
that stole the Super Bowl
show. “Brotherhood” earned
an excellent Unruly ShareRank
score of 7.9 and a superb
share rate of 18.6%.
35%
30%
Percentage of Respondents
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
Warmth
Figure 5: B
 udweiser - Brotherhood, content characteristics driving key psychological responses
Without a joke in sight, Budweiser also evoked many
“Brotherhood” performed strong social motivations,
strongly precisely because including emotional experience,
it was different from the reaction seeking and social
other ads in the Super Bowl, utility. Budweiser performed
eliciting complementary so well because the spot
responses of warmth and inspired viewers to share;
happiness from a large they wanted their friends
proportion of the audience. and family to feel the same
The Unruly ShareRank positivity as they did when
panel asks respondents watching it.
about the specific content
characteristics that led to
their emotional responses.
“Brotherhood” had three:
the storyline, the use of a
beloved animal and the ad’s
“Landslide” soundtrack. Music
has great emotive power,
and the right song selection
has been demonstrated to
significantly amplify viral
potential.
Storyline
Animal
Singing/Music
Happiness
 #1 Shared Ad from the Automotive Sector:
Ram’s Farmer
“Farmer” scored highest
in its category based on
the strength of its social
motivation and intense
psychological responses.
This ad was memorable for
shunning the common hilarity
trigger and creating a truly
unique viewing experience.
“Farmer” captures viewers’
attention with its stark visuals
and powerful imagery.
30%
25%
Percentage of Respondents
20%
15%
10%
5%
Awe
Figure 6: R
 am - Farmer, content characteristics driving key psychological responses
Ram retains viewer attention
by employing a simple
voiceover, devoid of music to
highlight the poetry of Paul
Harvey’s elegant words. A
somber, serious ad, “Farmer”
evoked the rare Super Bowl
mix of pride (9.0), warmth (8.6)
and awe (8.6) very strongly
among large numbers of
viewers. It reminded viewers
that the farmer is the heart
of the nation, and the
backbone of the country and a
struggling hero.
Pride Warmth
Viewers were primarily
inspired to share this
visually-striking and
powerfully-different ad
because they thought it
would get a strong reaction
from their friends.
The panel of viewers
highlighted four key
characteristics of the video
which elicited the primary
psychological responses: the
powerful script and storyline,
followed by the farmers’
personal triumph and the
unusual cinematic choice of
using still shots with only a
little movement.
Storyline
Script/Dialogue
Personal Triumph
Cinematic
15
 3.0 Conclusion

Unruly has been dedicated Use a different Make viewers feel

to the science of sharing
since 2006, and shares the
“science behind the social”
to help brands understand
why people share (and don’t
share) videos. The following
are the three items brands
should consider when creating
content that will motivate
viewers to share and gain cut-
through:
emotional trigger
Brands need to stand out
from the crowd to get cut-
through and be memorable.
Don’t always try to be funny.
While hilarity can be a very
powerful trigger, this year’s
Super Bowl winners were the
ads which broke away from
the pack and instead focused
on triggers which historically
have not been used in Big
Game ads. Hilarity is a fickle
trigger – brands need to
be exceptionally funny, or
their content falls flat. We
recommend brands move
away from humor for future
media events in order to be
remembered and shared.
And, to keep tabs on ads so as
new responses become the
norm, brands can continue to
break away from the pack.
something strongly, and
give them reasons to share
Research has shown that ads
which evoke intense, positive
emotions such as hilarity (vs.
amusement) and exhilaration
(vs. general interest) are 3x
more likely to get shared
than those with weak arousal
emotions8.
The ads that scored highest
for sharing motivation gave
viewers multiple reasons
to share. This gives viewers
a plan B (and C and D). The
greater the number of
motivations or the stronger
the intent to share, the more
likely earned sharing will take
place. However, viewers
must experience strong
psychological responses in
order for the content to be
memorable and be worth the
sharing effort.

The Social Diffusion Curve

14,000,000
The Viral Peak • 10% shares occur on day 2, the viral peak
12,000,000
• 25% of shares occur in the first 3 days
10,000,000 • 50% of shares occur in the first 3 weeks
Shares by day

8,000,000
The first days following launch are key to a video’s
6,000,000 short term and long term success. There are strong
correlations between shares achieved in days 1-3
4,000,000 (R2=0.59) and 1-6 (R2=0.87) and all-time share.
2,000,000

0
Day 1 Day 8 Day 16 Day 24 Day 32 Day 40 Day 48 Day 56

Figure 7: T
 he social diffusion curve: Unruly studied the day by day shares of the top 200 branded
videos of 2012, plotted here in aggregate
8 Dr. Karen Nelson-Field
 Get your timing right
The “viral peak” in sharing
takes place on days 2-3 after
a video is launched, affecting
both short-term and long-
term viewing and sharing.
If a brand is to achieve a viral Not only are the first three
cascade, its content needs to days critical, but an analysis of
reach a critical mass of viewers sharing activity of the 1,000
within the first 48 hours to most shared branded videos
create a strong response demonstrates that days of the
from the viewing public. week with the most sharing
Strong content is half of the activity are Wednesday,
“viral video” success story. It Thursday and Friday9. When
is equally important to get comparing cumulative shares
seen by the right audiences based on day of the week,
in the social environments Wednesday remains the
already frequented by these optimal day for launch10.
targets, within the necessary
time frame. Brands can win –
or fail – by day 3. Therefore,
it’s important to get content
trending quickly. Unruly
recommends front-loading
a distribution campaign to
achieve these critical, early
views.

16,000,000
+14.1% +15.9%
+7.5%
14,000,000
Average
12,000,000 +5.2%
Shares per day of the week

-1.7%
10,000,000 -15.2%
-25.8%
8,000,000

6,000,000

4,000,000

2,000,000

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Figure 8: S haring activity by day of the week
9 Unruly Viral Video Chart, Source: Viral Video Chart – Sharing activity of the 1,000 most shared branded videos 52
weeks to 7th June 2013
10 Unruly Viral Video Chart, Source: Viral Video Chart – Sharing activity of the 1,000 most shared branded videos 52
weeks to 7th June 2013; MEME play data for all campaigns in US, UK, DE and FR - 52 weeks to 7th June 2013
17
3 days’ cumulative shares following launch on a given day

50,000,000

45,000,000 +12.5%
40,000,000 Average
+5.9%
35,000,000 +8.9% +2.7%
-8.4% -7.4%
30,000,000 -14.2%

25,000,000

20,000,000

15,000,000

10,000,000

5,000,000

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Figure 9: 3
 Days’ cumulative sharing activity following launch day
3.1 What to do if Your Content Earns a Low Unruly ShareRank Score?
An Unruly ShareRank analysis
includes actionable steps an
advertiser can take to improve
the shareability of its content
or choose the most shareable
content from multiple
options. However, if an
advertiser has only the single
piece of content, and cannot
make the recommended
improvements, a sound
distribution strategy becomes
all the more important – and
Unruly ShareRank can help to
nail that strategy to amplify
shareability, even without
content edits.
While the content may not
generate so many earned
views, it can still win with
targeted distribution to the
right audience, in a player
optimized for this audience
(e.g. Unruly ShareRank will
identify the platforms the
target audience is most
likely to use for sharing the
content), and emphasizing
KPIs other than shares such as
interaction rate, competitions
entered, data captured or
time spent with the content.
5.4
vvv
6.
7
4 5 6
3 7
2 8
1 9
ShareRank™
The case studies in this report form a small
part of the full Unruly ShareRank reports
which typically contain 30-50 pages of
detailed data, insight and analysis from
our Insight team.
To find out more about Unruly ShareRank
email hello@unrulymedia.com
19

hello@unrulymedia.com
About Unruly
Video technology company
Unruly is the leading
global platform for social
video marketing and
works with top brands and
their agencies to predict
the emotional impact of
their videos and get them
watched, tracked and
shared across paid, owned
and earned media. We use
our proprietary technology
to turn target audiences
into engaged viewers
and engaged viewers into
customers and advocates.
Brands use our social
analytics dashboard to
benchmark their content,
outsmart the competition
and demonstrate superior
ROI. We’re dedicated to
finding elegant, data-driven
solutions to the social
marketing problems that
challenge brand advertisers
in today’s cluttered and
confusing media landscape.
Winner
Best Content
Distribution Service
UNRULY, UNRULY SHARERANK, UNRULY ANALYTICS and logos and associated marks are trademarks of Unruly Group.
Other marks are owned by their respective owners. Copyright (c) 2013 Unruly Group Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Find out more
In a nutshell, brands use
Unruly to join the dots on
Facebook, YouTube and the
social web. The Unruly Viral
Video Chart has tracked 329
billion video streams since
2006. With an engaged
audience of 978 million
consumers, across the full
range of mobile, tablet
and second screen devices,
Unruly has delivered, tracked
and audited 2.8 billion video
views across 2,500+ social
video campaigns for over
400 brands including Coca-
Cola, T-Mobile, Volkswagen,
Microsoft, Warner Brothers
and adidas. We’ve worked
with 60% of Interbrand’s Top
100 Best Global Brands and
our mission is to help brands
deliver the most awesome
social video advertising
campaigns on the planet.
Winner
Sunday TimesTechTrack 100 Awards
Digital Innovation
whitelisted
Founded in 2006, Unruly
has 11 offices and employs
over 125 people globally. In
2012, Unruly secured a $25
million Series A investment -
the largest ever for a private
company in the social video
space. The company has won
over 15 awards including
“Best Content Distribution
Service” at the Braves
Awards; “Digital Innovator
of the Year” at the Sunday
Times Hiscox Tech Track 100
and #14 on the Deloitte
Technology Fast 500 EMEA
2012. To find out more visit
www.unrulymedia.com
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