Considered one of the most successful ad campaigns in history, Evian’s roller babies from their “Live Young” campaign holds the official Guinness World Record for the most viral video ad of all time as of 2013.
Released in July of 2009 these dancing babies generated over 102 million views, 130,000 comments, and 500,000 Facebook fans within 10 months. The Evian babies started out as just a viral video campaign online, but eventually made their way to television and continued to release a variety of videos promoting the youth of Evian Mineral Water.
The “Live Young” campaign revolves around this idea of youth and the care-free, relaxed style that is associated with living young. The mineral water brand took the core values of their company and were able to come up with a unique and fun way to promote it.
The babies also serve more of a purpose than pure humor. Back in 1935, Evian Water was recommended by doctors as the perfect water for babies due to its pH-neutral mineral composition.
Instead of just trying to imagine a hilarious ad campaign that would go viral, the “Live Young” campaign was so successful because it was based on a foundation. They took their history and an overall message (that Evian’s mineral water has the essence and embodiment of youth), and they amplified it in a way that would really resonate with their audience.
Evian’s promise of youth continues with a relaunch of the babies and the “Live Young” campaign.
THAT’S RIGHT. THE BABIES ARE BACK!
The new surf-themed commercial for Evian titled “Baby Bay” was recently released by BETC Paris and is accompanied by a North American outdoor ad campaign starring both the babies and supermodel Gigi Hadid. The video advertisement is airing on TV in select places including the UK, France and Japan. For right now the U.S. is only getting outdoor ad piece of the campaign with Gigi Hadid and her “surf-baby doppelgänger”.
Marketers can learn a lot from this addition to the Video Ad Campaign Hall of Fame. Always stay true to the core values and use the message of your business as inspiration. From there, all you have to do is brainstorm a fun idea that symbolizes your business and keeps your message alive!
Photo Sources:
http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/w1500/evian-gigi-1.jpg
http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/commercials/2009/7/evian-roller-baby.jpg
Create your own viral video ad at www.viddyad.com
