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Evian’s Rollerbabies becomes most watched online video ad of all time

Evian’s Rollerbabies ad which has received over 45 million views on YouTube has won a place on the Guinness World Record as the most viewed online ad of all time.

The ad has also been put forward as an example of how the Google-owned site’s new paid search model can turn a video into a viral success story.

The film for the Danone-owned spring water brand, made by creative agency BETC Euro RSCG Paris, launched exclusively on YouTube in July. As of 9 November it had been watched 45,166, 109 times, as certified by Guinness World Record.

The campaign was also rolled out on TV and press.

To measure the impact of the viral campaign on brand awareness Nielsen and YouTube conducted joint research into its reach beyond traditional media.

In France, Evian launched a TV ad the day after it was broadcast on the YouTube homepage. Five days after the campaign was aired on TV, Nielsen research found that 95% of those who viewed the Rollerbabies ad on video-sharing site had not also seen the ad on TV.

Using YouTube Insights, Evian also found that the official French version of the online ad received over 60% of its views from outside France.

Michael Aidan, Evian global brand director, said its ambition with Rollerbabies was to create its first ever global campaign.

“The combination of community management and posting the film worldwide on YouTube has helped us reach well beyond our expectations: the most viewed video ad on the web ever, and the number one video over the launch month in countries like the US, Russia or Japan where the infamous ‘evian babies’ of 1998 were not previously know,” he said.

“Even more spectacular is the spontaneous relay TV channels around the world gave to this ‘web sensation’ and the 350 equally spontaneous remixed versions of the spot that have now reached millions.”

The latest ad comes 11 years after the babies were first seen in an underwater ballet ad in 1998.

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