Title	THE ELECTRIC SAGA - SEASON 2
Brand	EDF
Product/Service	EDF SERVICES
Category	A04. Series: Fiction & Non-Fiction
Entrant	HAVAS PARIS Puteaux, FRANCE
Idea Creation	HAVAS PARIS Puteaux, FRANCE
Production	QUAD PRODUCTIONS Clichy, FRANCE
Production 2	4 MECS EN BASKETS PARIS, FRANCE

Name	Company	Position
CHISTOPHE COFFRE	HAVAS PARIS	EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
GUILLAUME BLANC	HAVAS PARIS	COPYWRITER
FLORIAN ROUSSEL	HAVAS PARIS	ART DIRECTOR
VIRGINIE MELDENER	HAVAS PARIS	TV PRODUCER
ANNE LAURE COUMEL	HAVAS PARIS	AGENCY PRODUCER
ERIC JUDOR	4 MECS EN BASKET	DIRECTOR
LUC BOURDARIAS	4 MECS EN BASKET	PRODUCER
FRANÇOIS BRUN	QUAD	PRODUCER

The Campaign

We created the first advertising spin-off of a popular French TV series, Platane, which is loosely based on the life of Eric Judor, an actor, director and screenwriter who has become one of the most-liked figures in France, thanks to his lovable loser character. Together we developed 14 new episodes that were faithful to the show and its characters, and added a new element, an EDF representative who helps Eric solve everyday problems using EDF services. The episodes are set into 3 seasons.

Creative Execution

We launched our series like a real HBO programme. We started by releasing a teaser and the poster, as would be done for a big movie. Next we posted episodes on the web as a sneak peak, and then released them on TV and streaming platforms. We released about two episodes every two months for a year. There are 14 episodes in total, broadcast on TV and promoted throughout the EDF ecosystem, including Facebook, Twitter and a special website. Several digital campaigns were also developed in order to expand the experience, such as an interactive greeting card from the moon and an interactive video with a special-effect generator. Finally, we pushed each episode to influencers to extend the reach of the series into the cinema and entertainment industries, like for a real TV show or film. We also developed an array of extras for fans: GIFs, bloopers, outtakes, etc.

The series has been a resounding success: the first season has more than 33 million views on the web – equal to half the population. Even more importantly, the series has an 88% positive rating in France, all ages combined, and the campaign scores the same in terms of its impact. Unaided recall stands at 46% (versus the average 27%), aided recall is 33% higher (versus the average 14%) and proven recall 13% higher (versus the average 5%). Never has the image of EDF, a well-established market player, improved so considerably. This bold campaign was especially successful in terms of sales: EDF surpassed the one million customer mark for natural gas, becoming France’s second-leading brand (a longstanding sales target). All the services also received a boost, achieving 85% brand awareness for at least one service promoted in the campaign, and 80% of the French population wants to find out more.

The series we created we Eric Judor, a major figure in French comedy and the writer and director of Platane (a kind of French Curb Your Enthusiasm) is relevant because it has become hugely popular in France. The campaign is proof that if you offer entertaining, original, quality content, people are eager to watch. It also demonstrates that a quality creative production can help develop a brand’s business, if it succeeds in becoming part of people’s everyday lives.

The strategy on the creative side was to bring the EDF brand and its services, in particular, into people’s everyday lives. The goal was to help EDF make the transition from solely being an electricity supplier to a fully-fledged provider of services and solutions – a partner that is contacted more frequently and is valued for more than just electricity. People think of the brand more often, so they use its services more often.