Evian – WaterBoy

Waterboy, a little character made of water, goes through various situations symbolising the element of water. On his adventures, he meets a gorgeous girlfriend who is also made of water. Together, they start a family.

SUMMARY
In order to sustain Evian’s premium price in a commoditized market, Evian’s “We will rock you” campaign adopted a whole new advertising approach: no longer consider Evian to be just a water brand, following the rules of the category, but change the brand’s status and transform it into a badge of youthfulness. To achieve this goal, the campaign went beyond advertising, conceiving a global “advertainment” in which adults singing a mythical song with children’s voices were the basis for a global entertainment program. Despite a modest advertising budget the campaign succeeded in reaching all of the goals set and achieving considerable market share gain.

CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES
Add value to the brand by claiming a specific and motivating benefit which justifies Evian’s premium price and thus helps stabilise Evian’s market share.

CREATIVE STRATEGY
The strategy was to transform Evian into a “Badge of Youthfulness”. Youth is one of the strongest consumer aspirations, an aspiration that drives added value in most markets. An international TV commercial was launched, “Voices” : the revival of “We will rock you” by Queen, sung by adults with children’s voices expressing the inner youth inside us all and connecting Evian with a young spirit and powerful energy. This served to show that drinking Evian every day helps people feel young in body and mind.

RESULTS
- The campaign successfully changed the brand perception and increased the brand value. In France, Belgium and the UK substantial progress was achieved on all youthfulness indicators, as well as on price perception.
- Beyond the objective of stabilising market share, significant market share was gained in all markets, the UK for instance seeing a 3.5% volume share increase over the year.
- The ad itself was welcomed positively by the audience, achieving likeability scores 11% above the norm.
- Substantial free media coverage was gnerated with the launch of the “We will rock you” single and through radio broadcasting of the song.
- The campaign became a “social phenomenon”, especially in France.

Agency: BETC Euro RSCG
Creative Director Rémi Babinet/Fabrice Brovelli
Art Director: Sophie Deiss/Jean-Christophe Saurel
Copywriter: Sophie Deiss/Jean-Christophe Saurel
Director: Soandsau
Production Company: Quad Prodoctions, Paris