THE MOVIE CREDITS HACK

TitleTHE MOVIE CREDITS HACK
BrandCANAL+
Product/ServiceCANAL+
Category B01. Use of TV & Other Screens
Entrant BETC Paris, FRANCE
Idea Creation BETC Paris, FRANCE
Production GENERAL POP Pantin, FRANCE
Credits
Name Company Position
Stéphane XIBERRAS BETC CCO
Olivier Apers BETC Executive Creative Director
David Derouet BETC Art Director
Alphons Conzen BETC Art Director
Adrian Skenderovic BETC Copywriter
Alice Resseguier BETC Assistant Art Director
Lennie Stern BETC Strategic Planning
Nina De Wet BETC Traffic
Mohammed Nebbou General Pop TV Producer
Nicolas Lexa General Pop TV Producer
Guillaume Palmantier NA Director
Céline PONTYGAYOT CANAL+ Brand Management
Eugénie RODRIGUES CANAL+ Brand management
Bertille TOLEDANO BETC Agency management
Guillaume Espinet BETC Agency Management
Marie LEQUIME BETC Agency management

Why is this work relevant for Media?

Only real movie lovers stay until the end of the credits. To reward them, Canal+ hides a secret message with a free subscription in the closing credits of films.

Background

As the number one channel for movies in France, Canal+ wanted to celebrate movie lovers. The objective was to find a way to touch this connected community of cinephiles.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

Only real movie lovers stay until the end of the credits. To reward them, Canal+ hides a reward in the closing credits of films. In the credits, real movie lovers could discover a secret message, written in the same style between the lines of names, with a promo code offering a 3 month Canal+ subscription for free. This way, cinephiles can enjoy more films at home with Canal+.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Because we wanted to talk directly to movie lovers, we decided to reach them when they are at the movie theater. And to make our gift more viral, we decided to touch only real movie lovers, the ones that stay until the end of the closing credits. And because everyone pretends to be a real movie lover, everyone could relate to the message.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

To make this idea happen, Canal+ teamed up with MK2, the leading independent French cinema group. The operation took place for one week in the 12 MK2 cinemas in France (100000 spectators per week). Thanks to the connection of MK2 and Canal+, and via Studio Canal (European leader in film production), we managed to get the legal agreement to insert our secret message in the closing credits of dozen of films.

List the results (30% of vote)

With this unexpected promo, Canal+ reach its goal of increasing brand awareness for cinema. 3000 hidden codes were found in 3 days by movie lovers in the closing credits of films. First, the existence of the secret message circulated by word of mouth among the connected community of movie lovers. After the press release with the film explaining the operation, the general public got excited and everyone wanted to be a cinephile, and started to look for our hidden credits in movie theaters. The media got excited too and some major media (including France Inter, on of the most popular radio channels in France) talked about the operation. Canal+ subscriptions increased by 30% that week.