#the cube 37 days
Atlantic Group
Issue 36 | September 2015
Agency
Leo Burnett Paris
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director Xavier Beauregard Art Director Jerome Gonfond Copywriter Hadi Hassan Helou Concept Creators Jerome Gonfond Hadi Hassan Helou Thomas Czarnecki Christophe Corsand
Production Team
French Production Company QUAD Canadian Production Company LA CAVALERIE Executive Producer Michel David TV Producer Antoine Grujard
Other Credits
Account Director Regis Perrone Account Manager Veronique Khayat
Date
July 2015
Background
Groupe Atlantic wanted to show how important heat is for life in order to strengthen their position as France's leading provider of heating from electricity.
Idea
The idea was to show how life could flourish in even the most hostile environment provided there was warmth.
A glass cube was constructed and transported to a spot in British Columbia 2,400 meters above sea- level and where temperatures were often as low as -30° C.
The cube was divided into two sections. Hibernating life forms were placed in each and blocks of ice positioned above them.
Results
As yet unknown though the film won two Golds at Cannes in Filmcraft.
As the electric heaters did their work, the ice melted to provide water for the plants below.
Within 37 days the interior of the cube was a blaze of colour and life with flowers and butterflies thriving, while outside the conditions remained icily severe.
A documentary film was made about the experiment: https://youtu.be/su1n5B7rMRQ
However, the first step in raising awareness of the initiative and of the film was to mail key influencers and electrical heating retailers a flower grown inside the cube, fixed in a block of resin.
Our Thoughts
Not so long ago there was an assumption that if you made something wonderful and put it online, it would magnetically attract an audience. Today, when 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, that isn't the case. You have to lure an audience. And one of the most cost-effective ways to do that is by getting journalists and bloggers to do it for you. And to get them to do that you need to reach out to them by name, which is where direct mail comes in.