Paris’ Centre Pompidou – known the English-speaking world as the Pompidou Centre – has attempted to place itself in the same tourist league as the Eiffel Tower and the Notre-Dame cathedral by creating its own line of souvenir statuettes.
The art gallery tasked Publicis agency Marcel to revamp its reputation to become a must-see destination for international tourists visiting the French capital. Currently, the centre is popular with Parisians, but not so much with those from out of town.
The agency noted the likes of the Arc de Triomphe and the Sacré Coeur were all available to purchase in miniature form by the side of the road, but not the Pompidou. So, mimicking the usual statuettes on offer outside of these popular destinations, Marcel created its own batch of Pompidous.
A QR code was printed on the base of the souvenirs that revealed an automatic map to the centre when scanned by a smart phone.
Marcel then ‘flooded the city’ with its creations, hiring its own ‘squad’ of Pompidou sellers. The gang set up shop in front of the typical Parisian sites in order to divert tourist traffic to the art gallery. These hustlers also doubled as marketers for the destination.
Finally, the campaign saw mini buses drive through the streets picking up tourists and dropping them at the centre for free.
The centre has released an online video charting its below-the-line efforts using the campaign hashtag #SouvenirsDeParis.
Watch it here:
CREDITS
Agence: Marcel (groupe Publicis)
CE Os: Pascal Nessim / Charles Georges-Picot
cco: Anne de Maupeou
Creative Directors: Youri Guerassimov / Gaelan du Peloux Copywriter: Antonin Jacquot
Art Director: Clement Sechet / Aurelie Halbmeyer Motion: Arnaud Raquin
Partner: Blandine Mercier
Account Manager: Noella Neffati
Project Managers: Claire Sioufi / Jeanne Philippe
cso & Managing Partner: Nicolas LeVY
social Media Manager: Julien Petit/ Romain Jouffriault RP: Leila Touiti-Rose / Catherine Helfenstein
Production Company: Artisans du Film
Director: Guillaume Talvas
Producer: Valery du Peloux
DOP: Nils Runiet / Niels Benoist
camera: Pierre Bernier/ Frederic ouziel
sound: Valentin Verrier
First Assistant Director: Nadia Moussa
Production Coordinator: Laura Fague Martin
camera Assistant: Maxime Maujan
Editing: Guillaume Talvas
Editing Assistant: Cecile Valente
Post-Production Supervisor: Thibaud Colignon sound Mixer: Charli Masson
Colorist: Johan Tur
Post-Production: ADF L’atelier
Music: David Makima
Print Production Company: Prodigious Producer: Suzanne Pereira Dias/ Nathalie Turmel Model Maker: Mathieu Andrieu
Photographer: Aurelie Halbmeyer
Retoucher: David Verduci
Media: Blue 449
CEO: Pascal Crifo
Head of Digital trading: Julie Emberger
Social Media Strategist: Theo Ravel de Fereirolles Head of Brand Activation: Fouad Hachani Endorsement & KOL: Carmelle Basset-Chercot
MSL
CEO Publicis Consultants: Clement Leonarduzzi
CENTRE POMPI DOU
Director of Communications and Public Relations: Benoit Parayre
Director of Audience engagement and Education: Catherine Guillou
Assistant Director of Communications and Public Relations: Marc-Antoine Chau mien Chief of Audience Engagement: Cecile Venot
Head of digital: Paul Mourey
Chief Press Officer: Elodie Vincent
Assistant Chief of Audience Engagement: Aurelie Jourde
Video Production Manager: Isabelle Danto
Social Media Manager: Chloe Tournes
Executive Assistant: Catherine Legoux
