In the last 365 days alone, over 3.4M food videos were uploaded to social video platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. And sponsors are eating up the opportunity to be a part of this slice of the internet.
For July’s sponsored food videos leaderboard, the top ten most-viewed content in the first seven days generated 26.8M total sponsored views (V7)!
When we dug into these clips, we discovered some great morsels of information and strategy that other food brands (or those outside the industry) can adopt. Let’s dive in…
Top Sponsored Food Videos from July 2019
So Yummy Lands Food and, Oddly, Tech Partnerships
First Media’s So Yummy has consistently landed in the top ten most-viewed leaderboards for the food industry. While July was no different, one of So Yummy’s partnerships was definitely outside the box.
Sitting at #1 is a video the food publisher created with food brand Daily Harvest, a delivery service which specializes in pre-made frozen meals and smoothies. With a sponsored V7 of 5.6M views, the clip features different ideas for livening up (aka boozing up) summer shakes:
But it’s not So Yummy’s/Daily Harvest’s co-creation we’re interested in. Rather, the food publisher’s second partnering in July (and, as it happens, the second most-viewed video by V7) is what’s fascinating: video game brand Slotomania.
What is Slotomania, you may ask? It’s a mobile platform with free slot machines and gambling-style games. This type of sponsor doesn’t seem related to So Yummy, but the result is actually a no-brainer — the two worked together to create a slot machine cake! Viewers seemed to crave it, too, with a sponsored V7 of 3.3M views.
In the gaming industry, it only makes sense for video game creators, developers, and platforms to work with gaming creators. However, those sponsors pairing with food publishers seems less intuitive, until you see So Yummy’s success with Slotomania.
Sometimes, partnering with food industry publishers and creators can work for sponsors outside of that realm. All you have to do is be willing to get creative!
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Foodbeast and Twisted Lead Partnerships for Food Videos
The rest of July’s top sponsored food videos are quite simple: they were all created by foodie sponsors and creators. Of course, “simple” is a relative term.
This is especially true when considering that five out of the top ten most-watched sponsored food videos in July hailed from just two creators: Foodbeast and Twisted. This clearly wasn’t a simple coincidence — it was a pointed effort to create some amazing sponsored content.
On Foodbeast’s part, the U.S.-based food and drink publisher, which dubs itself “the food news source,” worked with both Stubb’s BBQ Sauce and Korean cuisine brand Bibigo.
The Stubbs video about a jalapeño popper BBQ bacon meat log got viewers drooling and viewing. The clip earned 3.2M V7 views to land at #3, just behind sponsored content whiz So Yummy.
Foodbeast’s video with Bibigo featured a recipe for a Korean hot chicken biscuit, and pulled in 2.1M V7 views to claim #6 in July. Not a bad month at all for Foodbeast, but can it continue its lead over the next few months?
As for Twisted, the UK-based Jungle Creations property has had plenty of solid success with its food videos in the past. In fact, the publisher is so popular, it’s managed to expand into physical restaurant locations (with more on the way).
In July, Twisted saw similar cravings for its content from online viewers. Three of the top ten sponsored food videos were created by the publisher, sponsored by alcohol beverage company Baileys, frozen food brand Birds Eye, and cheese company Boursin UK.
The Baileys and Twisted partnership landed at #8 and pulled in the most sponsored views at 1.8M V7 out of all Twisted’s collaborations. This is thanks to a delectable-looking, sugary clip about a strawberries & cream sticky swirl buns. (We should note that Baileys scored another top clip with Tasty, BuzzFeed’s food property, so the liquor brand earned plenty of reach!)
Twisted came in at #9 with Birds Eye on a video about fish finger lasagne (1.7M V7 views), and also claimed the final spot on July’s sponsored food videos leaderboard alongside Boursin with a clip featuring a club sandwich cake (1.6M V7 views).
Other food industry sponsors from July included bakery company Bimbo México and loyalty rewards program Grill Perks, while other top culinary creators were Tastemade Espanol and barbecue-focused Grilled.
If July’s sponsored food videos leaderboard teaches us anything else, it’s that viewers around the world are ready to consume more eats-based content. Twisted definitely helped lead the charge, but it’s clear other creators are excellent partners for sponsors eager to launch into the food category, too.
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