Instants V
Voyages-SNCF.com
Issue 32 | September 2014
Agency
TBWA Paris
Creative Team
Creative Directors Franck Botbol Hugues Cholez Art Directors Sebastien Skrzypczak Nicolas Dutartre Copywriter Stephane Kaczorowsky
Production Team
Production Agency Caporal Films Director Gael Leforestier
Other Credits
Client’s Chief Communication Officer Franc¸ois Bitouzet Assistant Chief Communication Officer Capucine Gagnez Vice-President Anne Vincent Account Manager Laure Lagarde Account Director Justine Myard-Guidi
Date
May 2014
Background
Voyages-sncf.com was the online travel agency of SNCF, the French national railways company. As a travel expert, it was the number one e-commerce website in France, with 1,7 million visitors per day.
To prove that no-one knew more about destinations in France and that they could carry people beyond the destination to live unique experiences, Voyages-sncf. com launched "Les instants V". This was an innovative offer, which took people to the best concerts, sports, museums and parks in France by train.
The brief was to create an event and to film it so that both PR and the video would reach as wide an audience as possible, creating awareness.
Idea
The campaign strapline was, 'With Les Instants V, you've never been so close to opera, sports, museums and concerts.'
To bring this to life, four huge interactive and hyper-realistic sculptures were created on outdoor billboards.
For opera, an exact reproduction of an opera singer's mouth was created, with a tongue that twitched and a uvula that vibrated as it 'sang' an aria.
For museums, a version of Marilyn Monroe's dress from 'The Seven Year Itch' was created, blowing in the breeze.
To sell Voyages-sncf.com as a place to buy concert tickets, a funk singer's bare chest was created in a bus- shelter poster. When the chest was touched, the bus-stop turned into a disco with disco-ball and lights.
The reactions of people to the installations was filmed and turned into a video, which went viral.
Results
- 1,029,160 Views on Youtube so far.
- 20% of videos shared.
- Click rate: 7,77%.
Post test results were overwhelmingly positive with 78% of the sample saying the action had changed their opinion of the brand positively.
Our Thoughts
20 years ago, ambient media hardly existed as a category. In this issue of Directory, ambient/outdoor/stunt, call it what you will, is the largest section. It has all been made possible by YouTube. These four media events would have provided a moment’s fun for a few thousand people but through the video they become amplified dramatically. As YouTube statistics will tell you, the video has now been watched for a total of over two years. The most important part of the submission is the fact that 20% of those who watched it shared it. This is ‘earned’ media, the holy grail of modern advertising, getting people to do your broadcasting for you.