BUS 568 Marketing Communications
April 6, 2014

I selected to write my article about Evian when I came across their advertisement in Adweek.com. The article caught my attention because it was featured as Adweek’s ad of the day titled “Evian Spins a Familiar Web with a Dancing Baby Spider-Man BETC gets heroic in the latest outing”. The title grabbed my attention and I was curious to read the article and of course watch the YouTube video. I have always been a fan of the Evian commercials and their use of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) babies coming together in a group to swim, dance, roller skate, etc. and therefore I was curious to learn more.
I’m sure most people have the same reaction as I do when I see a cute baby, but a cute one year old performing in the commercials is even better. I hadn’t seen The Amazing Spider Man 2 commercial but after viewing the YouTube video, I was even more in love with Evian’s marketing by using the CGI babies, however, I do agree with the author Emma Bazilian in that the Spider Man 2 commercial is very similar to Evian’s “Baby & Me” commercial just different characters. “Baby & Me” starts when pedestrians walk by a man dancing in front of a mirror to the song “Here Comes the Hotstepper” except his reflection is not of him as an adult but as a baby. All the other pedestrians that come to observe also see their reflection when they were a child and they all join in on the party. Since music is universal and it’s a great way to bring all ages, genders, and cultures together without a care in the world because they are letting their inner child/youth come out and have fun. An interesting observation I made was that neither one of those advertisements (Spider Man and Baby & Me) featured the Evian product until the last few seconds of the commercial along with their slogan “Live Young”.
The Evian commercials reminded me of The Real California Cheese commercials because Evian has used the CGI babies for over a decade and they still prove to be as successful as ever. The “Roller Babies” were a viral sensation when they were first introduced in 2009 as they skated in the park and breakdanced to the music of “Rappers Delight.” The “Roller Babies” even won Evian the Gold Awards at the London International awards for having the best visual effects. In 2013, Evian’s “Baby & Me” was the most watched video on YouTube. Clearly proving the marketing concept is very effective and relatable and has been since the company first introduced the synchronized “Water Babies” in 1998. The only difference between the “Water Babies” and the last two commercials were the use of actual water in the commercial itself.
In 2012 Evian changed their tagline/slogan from “Natural Spring Water” to “Live Young”. I believe this change was very important for the company as they repositioned their product from their competitors that also offered natural spring water and create market segmentation. The “Live Young” slogan is a great way for Evian to link their product to the use of the CGI babies in two ways. The first being that babies have been part of the Evian history since 1935 when the product was first recommended as the perfect water for babies due to its pH balance mineral composition. It is still the number one choice for mothers during and after pregnancy. During pregnancy a woman consumes water to assist the body in replenishing the water, since it does represent 60% of the weight during pregnancy. At 25 weeks the fetus itself is 90% water, therefore it is important for a woman to consume water without impurities. After giving birth if a mother is breastfeeding, the breast milk is composed of 87% water and if formula feeding, most mothers choose to use Evian to mix the baby’s formula to maintain the quality of water being consumed. The second reason for linking the “Live Young” slogan to babies is because babies represent youth and purity, everything Evian stands for as a company. The