Moments in copy
Welcome to LC’s nod to the ad campaigns that broke the mould and delighted the hearts and minds of consumers for a generation.
Here we note Renault’s “Nicole? Papa?” television commercial for the Renault Clio, featuring the girl it was impossible not to be smitten by, Estelle Skornik, and Max Douchin.
“Nicole? Papa?”
Set in sun-dappled Provence, “Nicole” is seen stealing the keys to the Clio, and driving to a rendezvous with her boyfriend whilst “Papa” appears to be taking a nap.
With its’ script of two-words, the commercial remains a masterclass in advertising copy and branding. The brainchild of Publicis, the ad aired between 1991 and 1998 and led to 300,000 Clio sales, made millions of people smile and its tagline became part of the lexicon. The name Nicole also became hugely popular in the UK. Publicis’ idea was said to have been inspired by a scene featuring an exchange between Nicole Bonnet and her father in the film “How to Steal a Millon” (1966).
In 1997, Renault’s board account Director at Publicis remarked that “The public appetite for these characters is insatiable and there’s no sign of wear-out. You might have expected people to have been tired of them by this time, but they have become part of the popular culture.”
Campaign redux
Established in 1899, Groupe Renault has been at the forefront of automobile manufacture, design and innovation for more than a century, and in 2022, the company chose to revive the “Nicole? Papa?” concept in order to promote the Mégane E-Tech.
First airing on Father’s Day in July, the social media campaign tells the stories of several real-life Nicoles and Papas, and their father-daughter relationship. It is hoped that the new campaign offers a modern day take on the previous tableau and expectations are high. Can the campaign match the original, both in terms of commercial success and brand visibility? Time will tell.
Advertising copy
When designing any media campaign, the central piece is the human story and impact on day-to-day human endeavour. In order to touch people, the best concepts are universally relevant, simple and joyful. The product itself can therefore become a prop, though the company must have sufficient weight to make this possible. Designing campaigns is an art in seeing what shines in terms of the idea and then executing the idea to great effect.
What we love about the “Nicole? Papa?” campaign is its ability to capture a mood, position the product and debut a turn of phrase that latches in our consciousness indelibly. It is light, fun and easy on the eye. It had us glued, among TV ads that are all too often more of an inconvenience or annoyance.
All in all, a feat in advertising copy and advertising in general. It is certainly true that the campaign lives on in consumers’ memories, with the campaign regularly being cited as one of the best advertising commercials of all time.
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