General information
Sector: Multiple – electronics, food, food delivery, beauty
Media: Linear TV, social media
Time period: May – July 2022
Case description
Le Flambeau, Les Aventuriers de Chupacabra Season 2 of the famous CANAL+ show, La Flamme, is a series starring the well-known French comedian Jonathan Cohen and an impressive cast, has been the long-awaited launch of the year and part of one of CANAL+’s biggest events.
CANAL+ wanted to give brands the opportunity to take advantage of the virality and enthusiasm generated by this show. It, therefore, created a new ad format featuring Marc, the main character of the ad.
CANAL+ created four TV spots, one for each of the selected brands: L’Oréal and Burger King, and the two official sponsors, Samsung and Deliveroo. Each spot featured Jonathan Cohen as Marc, the main character of the series, and was absurd, hilarious and easily shareable.
The campaign was smart and efficient. The four spots were broadcast together, in the context of the show, to create a unique ad block. This ad block went viral. It was featured in various trade press vlogs and magazines. The virality of those four spots can be explained by the way they were written: the four of them are hilarious and received a great and enthusiastic reaction from the audience. Jonathan Cohen embodies perfectly the role of Marc, a naïve and clumsy guy, in these special pieces of content, which was appreciated by fans. The virality of the spots was predictable as it was the second year Jonathan Cohen infiltrated TV spots in the ad break – there was a real expectation.
CANAL+ worked closely with the brands to understand their needs and translate them to Jonathan Cohen, so that he could create tailor-made content for them. Some were adaptations from an existing creative, some were made from scratch for the brand. The campaign was developed by CANAL Brand Factory, the creative department of CANAL+ Brand Solution. The ads were written by Jonathan Cohen and Jean-Toussaint Bernard, directed by Jonathan Cohen, and produced by the production agency, Entre 2 et 4.
Campaign results
The four spots received a really good appreciation from the audience and the press. The media coverage was impressive and helped the campaign go viral. The social media reach was between +100% and +450% vs objectives. This brand content campaign created a huge amount of interactions on social media and participated actively in the launch of this new season. All four clients were happy with the outcome and hoped for the next season to repeat the operation. The campaign demonstrated that it is possible to create an original, funny and disruptive piece of branded content, born in the creative mind of a special actor, meeting the needs of the company and the strict legal frame for advertising in France.