YouTube Rewind 2013 is the pop culture recap video of the year – a global celebration of cultural moments, creators, memes, and songs on YouTube that surprises and delights fans. Rewind reinforces YouTube's relevance in shaping what matters in culture and content today by looking back at the biggest moments of the year. The video comprised 60+ top YouTube Stars from around the world, including viral stars and A-listers.

We grew excitement for our video ahead of launch on YouTube's social accounts, via YouTube Partners, and our superfans – we posted teasers, exclusive behind the scenes content, and asked fans who and what should be remembered from 2013. We launched Rewind on YouTube across 56 countries in 27 languages with supporting media on YouTube, Google, and social networks, as well as an email campaign to users who were amongst the first 1% or 5% to watch the biggest hits of the year letting them know they were officially trendsetters. At launch, we activated stars in the video with conversations to reach their engaged fanbases. We maintained engagement over subsequent weeks by releasing additional top lists of the year as well as revealing content like hidden easter egg videos, a behind the scenes video, and a special effects "before & after" video.

In a week, the video was viewed 42 million times and it's now passed 96 million views. The video, music, stars, and references resonated with the audience who widely shared and posted about the video (we saw over 92,000 posts on Twitter with 98% positive or neutral sentiment). Over 1,400 media outlets covered YouTube Rewind, positioning YouTube at the center of popular culture, including dozens of broadcast hits in the US and print and online pieces around the world. We ended up celebrating the biggest hit videos of 2013, with one of the biggest hit videos of 2013.