Campaign Spotlight: THE SCORE – New global PEUGEOT 508 campaign

The pleasure of driving has been at the heart of Peugeot’s strategy for the past 200 years. The new global campaign launching today helps Peugeot stand out in a crowded market by enhancing the brands’ cultural capital and valorizes the technical fineness of its cars through an artistic performance.

BETC Paris called on RIOPY, a composer and pianist, known for his work on Oscar-winning Hollywood productions such as “The Danish Girl” and “The shape of water”. Together they have taken up a unique challenge: to compose the first piano piece written to be interpreted by a car, on the largest score in the world. The aim is to demonstrate the precision of the PEUGEOT 508, a source of pleasure when driving. It was a natural choice given that music and driving share the absolute need for precision.

To highlight Peugeot’s ability to constantly challenge itself, BETC Paris has devised a campaign which, according to Tiphaine du Plessis, Managing Director in charge of the Brand, “reflects the mindset of a brand that has shown no qualms about breaking the mould in a sector often perceived as ageing”.

6 months of work with engineers, technicians and musicians, 190 music notes produced, 1,890m of track… That’s what was needed to produce the key element of the performance: a life size replica of the musician’s original score and a genuine technical challenge. For RIOPY, composing a piece for the new PEUGEOT 508 was a first: “As a musician I’m always looking to push back the limits. I’m pleased that I succeeded in creating a piece that speaks to the heart while respecting a number of constraints. It is a totally new way of creating music”.

But the finest composition in the world would be nothing without the interpretation of a precision instrument: the new PEUGEOT 508. With a system of laser sensors that react to variations in colour and shape, and an on-board connection in a MIDI unit, each time the vehicle passes over a note, it triggers the associated sound in the original score. By seeking out the notes one after the other, the new PEUGEOT 508 re-interprets the piece by RIOPY live.

Called The Score, the campaign is also a visual performance shot in a breathtaking décor: a military base hidden away in the Croatian mountains. For John S. Park (QUAD), the award-winning director, the location was an obvious choice: “With its kilometres of galleries hollowed out of the mountain and 5 landing strips, the military base at Zeljava was a dream location for an experiment that no one had ever attempted before”. 

For Antoine Choque, Executive Creative Director at BETC, The Score totally serves the ultimate benefit: exceptional driving sensations – “we devised an artistic performance that is based entirely on the precision of the new PEUGEOT 508”. 

A life-size score, a precision instrument and a unique décor, come together to create 60 seconds of a precision ballet, accompanied by a symphony orchestra.

To further enhance the performance, a second PEUGEOT 508 makes its entry. Driven by a drummer, it transforms RIOPY’s composition into an unexpected mashup, swinging between neo-classic and rock.

An official release of the track on the Warner Musics Ltd label is envisaged.
 

BRAND MANAGEMENT                                             Jean-Philippe IMPARATO

Thierry LONZIANO

Nuno MARQUES 

Nathalie LEMAITRE

Elodie BUGAT

AGENCY                                                                    BETC

                                                                                   Tiphaine DU-PLESSIS

                                                                                 Nabila RAKIBI

                                                                                    Annaëlle FOY

                                                                                    Mathilde SIKORSKY

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE OFFICER                              Rémi BABINET  

ART DIRECTOR                                                         Antoine MONTES

COPYWRITER                                                           Ibrahim SECK

HEAD OF STRATEGY                                     Guillaume MARTIN

ACCOUNT PLANNER                                                Adrien TORRES         

ENGAGEMENT PLANNER                                         Vincent COLONNA-CESARI

TRAFFIC                                                                    Céline LAPORTE

POST-PRODUCER                                                     Slim TRABELSI

PRODUCTION COMPANY                                        QUAD

SONG NAME                                                               “LE REVE D’UNE NOTE”

COMPOSER                                                              RIOPY

EDITOR                                                                       GUM GREEN UNITED MUSIC

DIRECTOR                                                                 John S. PARK

ACTORS                                                                     Jean-Philippe RIOPY

Sam LHERMILLIER

Karmen VCETKO

Nina PEČAR

Matjaz POROVNE

Barbara STIMEC

Arslan HAMIDULLIN

Klemen KRAJC

Danijel TOMSIČ

Peter LEBAR