Operation Kendji Girac
Droit de Regard
Issue 58 | March 2021
Agency
BETC Paris
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director Stéphane Xiberras Copywriter Alexandre Girod Art Director Julien Vergne Assistant Art Director Mathis Payet
Production Team
Director of Music Creation Christophe Caurret Traffic Nathalie Sanseigne
Other Credits
Account Management Hugues Reboul, Manon Mangaud Strategic Planners Philippe Martin Davies, Louis Chahan
Date
December 2020
Background
With average optician prices between 300€ to 600€, 17% of French people opt out of optical wear for financial reasons. Despite this alarming figure, the public was largely unaware of the issue.
Idea
Kendji Girac is a well-known singer in France, who rose to fame after winning The Voice. He has released three studio albums and has a string of hit singles including One Last Time with Ariana Grande.
On November 6th he posted a clip of his new video ‘Evidemment’. It was blurred on social media and many thought a massive mistake had been made.
After three weeks of comments, the singer revealed the reason behind the clip was to show what so many French people experienced on a daily basis. In fact, 1.9 million people were estimated to have difficulties seeing properly because of economic pressures.
In partnership with French optician brand Droit de Regard, Kendji let everyone know that Droit de Regard would help customers with poor eyesight recover 100% of the cost of glasses through the government’s 100% Social Security Scheme.
All opticians were able to do this but, chasing greater profits, most chose not to advertise the government deal. Droit de Regard, by contrast, put it at the heart of its business, offering the best glasses and the best lenses with no charge.
Results
Not known.
Our Thoughts
This campaign idea does two things. It makes Droit de Regard look like they’re on the side of the man (and woman) in the street, ordinary people with little money.
But it also makes the competition look like rapacious swindlers, who deliberately set out to fudge their legal obligations in the hope that people will end up buying expensive frames. And that, of course, makes Droit de Regard look doubly good.
A smart strategy executed equally smartly through the use of a super-influencer. Ads (online, offline) might have got people thinking there was a catch to the 100% money-back story whereas it was altogether more plausible when it came from Kendji.
People trust people.