This year, BETC Paris pulled out all the stops for a holiday campaign they did with French department store Manor, traversing galaxies to find the perfect gift. Hear more about the campaign from Carole Lequin, Account Manager at BETC Paris, in Dare!.
Can you tell us how you concepted the advertisement?
The client’s brief was about highlighting that the best gift selection you can find is at Manor – they wanted to drive the most traffic possible in stores at this crucial period for the business. The challenge we face each year is to identify an engaging and insightful story; this year’s was Cosmic Christmas.
We started the discussion with the creative team with a consumer truth: it’s always tricky to find the perfect gift for your loved ones at Christmas, especially because you have to do it every year. At some point, your imagination starts to fade. The creative team reimagined this idea into people going to any lengths to spoil those they love – they think of the best gift for days and are ready to go far away to find it, even to the edge of the galaxy! They landed on the story of this young couple trying to outdo themselves in their search for the perfect gift. A competition follows, which ends with the very competitive assertion that Manor’s gift line is unbeatable.
How does the ad connect with the brand’s personality?
Manor is all about putting a hint of specialness into people’s life. Manor is just like a friend – always ready to uplift you, to inspire you, and to give a boost to the quality of your day. The TV spot is full of imagination to inspire you with the best gift ideas for Christmas, and it is very dynamic, enthusiastic, and pleasure-centric. The story expresses also the humorous, witty side of the brand — slightly surreal but very human thanks to the two actors and the talent of the director Bart Timmer.
“The key to the concept was to create surprise and wittiness in the building of the narrative plot.”
Did you partner with any people or groups in particular to drive campaign success?
For this video, we partnered-up with the well-known director Bart Timmer (Production House: Henry). His experience and past work in advertising made him the ideal director for this spot. The key to the concept was to create surprise and wittiness in the building of the narrative plot, a thing he is great at. Bart also did a fantastic job directing the actors’ expressions as they oscillated between admiration and competitiveness. It resulted in this joyful and fun TV ad.
What was the most meaningful part of working on this campaign?
What we really liked about this campaign is the intensity of the crescendo of the gifts. From a realistic stuffed cat to a star from the far away galaxy, the couple have relentless ideas and a desire to top each other to offer the most memorable gift.
From a production standpoint we were impressed by the real ice statue! And of course we were impressed by the spaceship, which landed thanks to a massive crane.
What have the results been for the campaign so far?
We do not have the total results yet, but it has been positively received by consumers and the press. We’re looking forward to the final recap!
