A Dutch ad agency assigned its own monetary values to YouTube views, and at least one creator walked away with a brand new car as a result.
Netherlands-based J Walter Thompson Amsterdam (JWT) devised a campaign for automaker Opel that offered new vehicles for creators who reached certain viewership benchmarks on videos related to the brand, and at least one person — Dutchman Yuri Schuurkes — hit that goal.
The campaign in question offered up “online editions” of three different Opel models. Any creator who launched a video related to an Opel test drive was able to put any resulting viewership toward the purchase of a car. According to Adweek, JWT set up an exchange rate of 40 YouTube views to €1 and applied that rubric to Opel’s Karl Rocks, Corsa, and Astra lines.
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While the exact number of creators who benefitted from the offer has not been made public, at least one videomaker was able to cash in his digital hits for a real-life car. Schuurkes, who runs the Spiderman-themed SpideyPlanet channel, launched a clip in which the Marvel superhero has an incident at an Opel dealership. At the time of this post, the video has more than 5.5 million views, far surpassing the 922,800 needed to take home the keys to an Opel Astra — which normally retails for €23,070.
Opel’s campaign is an interesting look into the value of viral marketing. The automaker had to give away at least one car, but the resulting boost it received from being featured in a widely-shared clip, at least in theory, is worth that price. Schuurkes, on the other hand, gets to cruise around in his new vehicle, even while he isn’t wearing a costume.
