Number one in the world: Nike My Time Is Now as the most viewed commercial of 2012. The second-biggest sporting event of the year next to the Olympics was probably soccer's Euro 2012, which explains why this ad was the most viewed. The commercial is filled with big soccer stars like Ronaldo, Iniesta, Ribery or Neymar, who are challenged by group of unknown players who invade a stadium in the middle of a game between France and the Netherlands. The spot has had 20,937,432 hits.

Wieden + Kennedy had a very strong showing on the YouTube list, being responsible for a total of seven ads in the top 20. Chrysler 'Half Time in America' was at number 8, Nike Mercurial Vapor at number 9, and Old Spice spots filled numbers 13, 14, 19 and 20.

W+K also featured again in The 10 most popular ads among YouTube UK users in 2012. The number one ad for, Honda UK’s “spark” by Wieden & Kennedy London, has had had 3.8 million global views. The ad centres on a “spark of inspiration” at a Honda factory, as it passes through a series of adventures, before finally revealing the manufacturer's latest Civic model.

Here's what they said:

(The) work on Wieden’s global reel this year represents advertising at its best—words and images that spark emotions and transcend categories. 

Even for a premiere creative agency like Wieden—Adweek’s Global Agency of the Year for 2012—this was an exceptional year. The most memorable Super Bowl ad. The Emmy (its fourth straight). The biggest campaign ever for Heineken, celebrating the brand’s global sponsorship of the James Bond flick Skyfall. A whopping 45 Lions at Cannes (including 29 out of its Portland, Ore., headquarters, making it Agency of the Year). Banner wins like Tesco, Sony, Facebook and American Express Open. New business and organic growth from existing accounts fueled a swift rebound from the loss of Nokia and Target, in 2011 and early ’12, respectively. The agency ends this year with global revenue growth of 5 percent to an estimated $294 million. 

Among its peers, independent agency Wieden, now in its 30th year, inspires both pride and envy. After all, in the past four years, Wieden has won an average of 29 Lions a year. Agency co-founder and global president Dan Wieden attributes that creative consistency to building a culture that’s “just more fun than you can believe and harder than hell. That generates ideas, great enthusiasm and new ways of looking at old issues.”

Tesco’s Matt Atkinson likes what he sees thus far in Wieden’s London office, which, led by managing director Neil Christie, beat TBWA, VCCP and JWT in July to claim one of the most coveted accounts in the U.K. The retailer, which each year produces more than 1,000 ads and spends about $175 million in media, last month broke a campaign that centers around a familiar object in England this time of year: the holiday hat. 

Wieden brings “an ability to help you express yourself in the new world,” says Atkinson, Tesco’s group marketing and chief digital officer. “That was what we were looking for.”

Read the full article on Adweek.com