Global Agency of the Year:
Publicis Conseil, Paris
Finalist
Creative Strategy
Automotive
| Entrant: | Publicis Conseil, France |
| Brand: | Renault |
| Title: | "Long-term" |
| Corporate Name of Client: | Renault |
| Agency: | Publicis Conseil, Paris |
| Agency CEO: | Marco Venturelli |
| Agency President: | Agathe Bousquet |
| Agency Global Chief Creative Officer: | Marco Venturelli |
| Agency Executive Creative Directors: | Marcelo Vergara/Romulus Petcan/Gabriel Gherca |
| Agency Copywriters: | Guillaume Sabbagh/Natalia Huidobro/Corentin Salignat |
| Agency Art Directors: | Marie Donnedieu/Cecilia Astengo |
| Agency Designer: | Kassandra Tanne |
| Agency Graphic Designer: | Florent Abeilhe |
| Agency Project Manager: | Chloé Frappereau |
| Agency Digital Director: | Frédéric Moussairoux |
| Agency UX Director: | Gurvan Prioul |
| Agency Chief Strategy Officer: | Sarah Lemarié |
| Agency Strategy Directors: | Philippe Martin-Davies/Donya Bouzarjohmehri |
| Agency Strategic Planner: | Kayla Shenassa |
| Agency Group Account Director: | Hugues Reboul |
| Agency Account Director: | Gaëlle Morvan |
| Agency Account Manager: | Laurent Enet |
| Agency Planning Director: | Nicolas Izel |
| Agency Planner: | Claire Diot |
Cultural Context:
In 2019, Renault's vehicle sales decline for the first time in a decade. The Renault-Nissan alliance is faltering. The decline of the diesel market hits Renault’s core revenue.
In 2020, with Covid things get even worse. Renault is on the brink of collapse: €8 billion in losses, 15,000 jobs cut. When Luca de Meo takes over the company in 2020, Renault is losing €40 million per day.
A NEW CEO COMES WITH A VISION ON ELECTRIC. Luca de Meo decides to bet everything on the company’s electric transition and launches the development of a new electric range.
At the time, Renault had been a pioneer on electric in France, with the Zoe, the first mass-produced French electric car. Renault would create a full range of high-tech electric cars, made in France. And no longer entry level fuel cars, made on the other side of the world.
But, shifting industrial processes takes time, and the new electric range would take FIVE YEARS to reach dealerships (2025). In the meantime, all we had to save the company was communication and ideas.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN FRANCE WERE STILL A NICHE MARKET. Renault sells about 18,000 Zoe. Tesla sells about 6,000 cars in France.
The French think that electric is only for big cities, that it doesn’t make sense for medium to small towns, even less for rural areas, that it is too expensive, and inconvenient to charge. As they say, it’s a « BoBo dream » (BoBo = ‘Bourgeois Bohemian’).
Barrier #1: Urban bias. Only 7% of French people were ready to switch to electric, as 93% believed that electric cars lacked autonomy and needed more infrastructure, thus made sense only for people living in big cities.
Barrier #2 : Charging anxiety. Despite over 1 million EVs on the road, only 80,000 charging points existed, unevenly distributed. 54% of French people didn’t consider buying an electric car in the coming years due to “a lack of public charging stations ".
Barrier #3: Affordability perception. Electric cars are more expensive. For 51% of the people, they just felt unaffordable, becoming symbols of social exclusion. We believed that by removing emotional and practical barriers to EV adoption, we could grow the category and rebuild brand equity by making Renault the brand that democratizes electric.
2020-2021 - Brand Act 1 : APPY. Renault created the first 100% electric vehicles village in the world. Where? In Appy, the most remote village in France. To demonstrate that if electric cars are possible there, they are possible everywhere.
2022-2023 - Brand Act 2 : PLUG-INN. Renault created Plug Inn, the Airbnb for plugs, by connecting electric car drivers with electric charge owners and small businesses everywhere in France. It did not just create more charging stations, but also a new income source for EV owners. And a way to develop sustainable tourism across France.
2024 - Brand Act 3 : CARS TO WORK Renault created Cars to Work, a new offer that allows people with no income to access refurbished or new electric Renaults, at no cost during their employment trial phase, to help them secure a job in mobility deserts
By removing key mental and practical barriers to EV adoption, Renault accelerated the French electric transition. Renault helped grow the French EV market from 2% to 19%, outpacing Europe (+579% vs. +453%).
As a reference: Spain and Italy offer electric vehicle incentives equal / or greater than those in France, yet saw much slower growth.
For Renault, the EV transition meant -50% industrial CO2 emissions and -40% in-use CO2 emissions.
BUSINESS IMPACT: Renault sold over 225,000 electric vehicles (without a new range) maintaining EV leadership in France, despite the offensive of Tesla and new Chinese brands. The strategy also drove a halo effect on hybrids: EVs and hybrids now represent 61% of Renault’s sales mix.
BRAND IMPACT: The brand rose from 10th to 3rd in Brand Love, with a +10pt boost in brand pride.
PEOPLE IMPACT: Reopening of a French factory, creating 8,000 jobs.