We had to launch Heidi Klum’s new lingerie label globally. The client wanted to “go viral” on a small budget and get the underwear range into the cultural conversation. We knew that Sia’s music videos drew hundreds of millions of views and media discussion. We also knew Sia didn't appear in her own music videos, but used celebrities wearing her trademark blonde wig. If we could get Heidi Klum to collaborate with Sia we felt that we would be able to ride the cultural zeitgeist surrounding the Australian singer, and show off the lingerie range in an engaging, evocative way.

The video got 9 million views in 9 days with no paid media.

The video has also generated 175,137 social engagements during the first two weeks. (Source: YouTube Analytics WW, April 23, 2015 – May 3, 2015)

Vevo’s promotion of the video on Twitter generated 67,590 impressions (organic).

The video has been most watched by the coveted millennial demographic, 65% of views were among A18-34. Overall, the views have been evenly split 50/50 between males and females.

We have seen a big spike in awareness of the brand, although we are still quantifying the exact results.

We had no paid media so had to rely on igniting the anticipation that always happens around Sia’s music videos by a strategic use of social media.

On April 15 Heidi Klum posted a picture of herself wearing the Sia wig on Instagram, with the caption ‘Can you guess for who I am shooting new music video?’ This led to a frenzy of speculation that Heidi Klum and Sia were collaborating on mainstream media and social channels.

Further, the partnership with People.com meant we could leverage their social channels, as well as those of VEVO and Sia.

Our target audience was millennial women. They are very digitally active and big consumers of music videos and social media. They may admire Heidi, but aren't sure why they should buy her underwear. Traditional advertising doesn't cut it with this demographic. They want to engage with the product organically, rather than be explicitly advertised to. A branded music video was basically a native product demonstration. It let them experience the brand on an emotional level, with a great soundtrack.