To communicate that fact, Citroën is launching an equally disruptive advertising campaign. For the very first time, a fully integrated production set-up was used to create multiple assets simultaneously, thus ensuring maximum impact across all media channels and throughout the conversion funnel.
The results are breathtaking. The location shoot – at a Hungarian chateau – mobilized five production crews, over five days and nights. For the TV ad, the awards winner director Fredrik Bond spared no expense to craft a cinematic take on the ë-C3 revolution. The costumes and wigs came from Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette. The stunt crew worked on Dune 2. The soundtrack is the original version of David Bowie’s Suffragette City. With tongue firmly in cheek, the finished film tells the story of how electric vehicles finally ended up in the hands of the masses.
In parallel to the shoot for the TV film, multiple teams were generating a rich array of content for social media, digital capsules, key visuals, lifestyle visuals, and behind-the-scenes content. As a result, all the assets were generated at source in formats perfectly adapted to their end uses – from YouTube mastheads to GIFs and social media carousels. By generating a full spectrum of TV, social media and digital content all at the same time, the production looks set to impact the world of advertising as much as the ë-C3 does the world of motoring.
As such, it is in keeping with Citroën’s historically creative approach to advertising. The brand’s breakthrough products have always been accompanied by an equally innovative approach to communication. That approach can be traced from the Citroën name that lit up the Eiffel Tower from 1925 until 1936, right through to this year’s TV film for the renewed LCV range – which recast the LCV ad as an epic love story between a working man and his vehicle.
“Creative excellence in advertising is as much a part of Citroën’s history as the innovative engineering solutions that have brought ground-breaking products to the market and made people lives better. The new ë-C3 is a revolutionary product, offering accessible, high quality, electric mobility for everyone, for the first time. It is a product that deserved a catchy, impactful and visually stunning campaign, adorned with a fantastic soundtrack” said Federico Goyret, Citroën’s Marketing and Communications SVP.
Humourous, edgy, impertinent and provocative, Citroën is a brand that has always done things differently. This spectacular new campaign may mark a milestone for the car industry, but for Citroën it is part of a long and proud tradition.
