CONTAGIOUS

NOVEMBRE 05

Brune – the agency launch Brunette or Blonde ?

How to successfully launch a new advertising agency in a saturated market?

Bruno Lacoste, founder of Brune, decided to build his new agency's reputation as quickly as possible. The agency chose to treat the name like a brand and push it in a radical manner. In terms of positioning, the company wanted to be associated with qualities such as seduction, sophistication and humour.

Brune created five 15 to 23-second commercials depicting the agency's reception desk. The spots were shot in single sequences around a very simple principle. Two receptionists, one blonde the other brunette, take telephone calls. The stereotypical blonde consistently answers and replies nonsensically. The brunette (Brune) always saves the day.

The 2004-5 media plan was only 12,000 Euros, split between the Internet, cable channel LCI and the launch week of Pink TV, the new gay friendly channel.

The politically incorrect spots were light in tone and short in length to help them travel over the web. The campaign generated over 500 spontaneous calls, giving rise to several contacts with prospective clients. They also captured the attention of two of France’s five major TV channels, leading to on-screen interview with Lacoste.

Three of the five spots were shown on France 2's Sunday evening news programme and on M6’s 'Zone Interdite' slot, resulting in a cumulative total of 14 million viewers.