Title	RENAULT - VILLAGE ELECTRIQUE
Brand	RENAULT
Product/Service	RENAULT ZOE
Category	C08. Market Disruption
Entrant	PUBLICIS CONSEIL Paris, FRANCE
Idea Creation	PUBLICIS CONSEIL Paris, FRANCE
Media Placement	OMD FRANCE Paris, FRANCE
PR	OMD FRANCE Paris, FRANCE
Production	BIG PRODUCTIONS Paris, FRANCE
Additional Company	RENAULT Paris, FRANCE

Name	Company	Position
Marco Venturelli	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	CEO & CCO
Laurent Diot	Renault France	Chief Marketing Officer
Carine Gailliez	Renault France	Advertising & Media Director
Angélique Joniaux	Renault France	Advertising & Brand Activations Manager
Sylvie Baptista	Renault France	EV Contact Manager
Jean-Baptiste Calvani	Renault France	Project Manager Junior
Marcelo Vergara	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Executive Creative Director
Guillaume Sabbagh	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Copywriter
Corentin Salignat	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Copywriter
Marine Badel	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Art Direction
Guillaume Foskolos	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Account Director
Gaëlle Morvan	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Account Manager
Laurent Enet	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Account Manager
Margot Zandonella	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Account Manager
Didier Tavares	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Strategic Planning
Jérôme Goldman	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Digital Manager
Laura Ceylan	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Digital Manager
Nelly Cohen	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	TV Producer
Claire Diot	PUBLICIS CONSEIL	Process Manager
Emmanuel Le Ber	BIG	Director
Emmanuel Bernard	BIG	Chief Operator/DOP
Pierre Rambaldi	BIG	Producer
Nicolas Avram	BIG	Production Director
Natacha Dolard	BIG	Post-Production Director
Vincent Renonciat	OMD	Account Director
Bertrand Nadeau	OMD	Managing Director Fuse France
Barbara Fleury	OMD	Account Manager

Objectives

Expand the EV niche Imagine starting with what if, What if an all-electric automotive world was starting not in big cities but in rural areas. Where? In Appy. The remotest town in France. Where people need to drive 25 km to find the first bakery to get a baguette, 30 km to go to the supermarket or even 35km to get kids to the school. There were no better reasons to choose Appy as the best place to do our demonstration. Because if it’s possible here, it's possible everywhere. This is what this experiment is all about, why? Because despite EV being around for quite some time and carmakers spending billion euros trying to sell electric cars, only 7% are ready to switch to electric today. So Renault with its Zoe decided to convince the 93% that EV is an experience you live not a switch you flip on.

Summary of the work

A long-term experiment for a durable change Imagine Appy, in the middle of rural France; a quiet, unsuspecting village overflowing with heartwarming clichés, hardworking individuals and visions of the future. But more importantly, a place where driving is an everyday necessity. The people of Appy stand firm in their belief that a successful community is one that embraces modernism and is aware of its ecological footprint. If you put a few Zoe’s in the street of Bordeaux, no one will notice now but what if you were to replace all the cars in the most remote village of France and give all its inhabitants a Zoe to drive for 3 years. What if? Renault did just that in the village of Appy. And now you have a story to tell. And that’s not all, what if it was not only about driving clean but also about charging clean. Most drivers of electrified cars are not aware of the origin of their electricity, they’re even less aware of the fact that they are charging their cars with grey energy (energy from fossil fuels). What’s the point in driving electrified when your energy isn’t clean? What if we were fitting the village with photovoltaic energy, so the electricity is 100% green and our drivers aren't just using electric cars, they’re also charging them with green energy: no impact, zero emissions. This is what we are working on, the electricity to power the Zoe in Appy will be green and locally produced soon, with installations on top of the mayor office and a communal wash and fold, people can power their car with the city provided electricity. And voila, Appy officially became the first city on Earth to drive only electric cars. And after one year of driving only ZOE, nothing has changed in this town. People still drive as much as before without having any lack of autonomy or missing infrastructures. What if we were to make a 15 minutes documentary about it and broadcast it on TV and online to prove once and for all how easy and possible it is to switch to electric. We know that changing the automotive landscape and energy needs isn't going to happen overnight. It's going to happen one step (one town) at a time. What if, indeed.

Engagement & Awareness

The campaign is the wrong word to speak about the “village”. Because a campaign starts and ends at the time we decide and regarding the media we book. But here, Journalists started to talk about it more than 1 month before the launch on media. Of course, agencies use to deal with journalists or influencers to deal with some articles or relay their operations but this time, there were journalists and media who called us to have the “scoop”. The strength of a popular channel for a “popular” village Because we did not have a massive budget to promote the village, the idea was to focus on the most efficient channel to make this small village that nobody knows into the most famous French village. As the 1st French TV channel, TF1 was the best partner to make it big. A TV channel that is the most popular in rural areas by used to give a voice to small places all around the country. And particularly through their 1 PM TV news. That is why we chose to broadcast each episode at this specific moment. Based on a full ecosystem for our content broadcasted overall the TF1 network mixed to our TV and social media, we have finally reached 63.000.000 views for 29.000.000 impressions. And better than any data to prove how popular this small village and its people became, we know that everywhere they go, around Appy and even during vacations anywhere in France, people recognized these “Appyers”. They felt proud and so do we. A social experience born to be shared How a small and local town far from everything can be the most famous place in the country. An ambition that has driven our media strategy around 3 main pillars: paid, organic and search. Paid media first with specific formats: 13s on Facebook, 3 min on Linkedin but also Instagram and Snapchat stories and even 6s Twitter spotlights – everything redirecting to the dedicated Renault website. About organic, thanks to our close partnership with Youtube and Teads, we are proud to say that 8,2 million videos have been 100% watched with a completion rate of 74% about our in reading landscape format on Teads. Last but not least, we have registered a search increase about Renault Zoe and the village (more than 600 clicks the first day) with people starving to know more about it. And because figures speak for themselves, we are proud to have reached 166 661 698 contacts and generated the equivalent of 723 400€ earned media. Beyond advertising, beyond expectations Exactly like French hero Asterix and its small Village Gaulois used to cross the frontiers, our village did it as well, generating PR with more than 250 articles in 38 countries. When so many countries are on the same page to celebrate a small village in France, we can say it went beyond social, maybe at a societal level. Just because more than a demo for Renault, Appy is a purpose.

Social Behaviour & Insight

Changing behaviour by cha(lle)nging advertising There is no work harder than changing people’s behaviour. And advertising must recognize its limits. When the automotive industry almost spent a billion euros trying to sell electric cars to finally convince only 7% of people who say they are willing to buy one today, maybe it was time to change something on our side first. That’s why we have decided to turn a city into a campaign, by creating the first-ever 100% electric vehicles city in the world. Convinced that the best way to make people realize that they can do better than 7% is to take it to 100% with an entire village where 100% of people are driving electric. Action speaks louder than words Before our arrival, every household had already a car but no one had ever considered an electric car as a candidate to become their main car. A few months after, they have unanimously adopted Zoe as their family car, saying that they cannot live without anymore. We used to say that trying it is adopting it and it was confirmed in Appy With 100% of people satisfied by Renault Zoe. And more than satisfaction, they quickly became our best ambassadors, promoting and recommending their Zoe’s all around them. We know that many of them have invited family and friends or even colleagues to test it. Transforming, by the way, our experiment into what could be the biggest test drive in real conditions ever! We suddenly realized that we bring to life a 3 years massive test drive for family, friends and neighbours. Considering that each household allowed a dozen acquaintances to try their Zoe, it’s about more than one hundred people that had the opportunity to test it for free. Their first step to electric in the future just started in Appy. With users becoming the best sellers of Renault, we can say that achieved something. A dream for the brand that could not expect so much.

Brand Affinity & Sentiment

From “Voitures à vivre” to electric for all Renault has always been a brand connected to people’s lives, starting with “Voitures à Vivre” in the eighties. This case follows the line of Voitures à Vivre and contributes to this positioning. It’s about living up to Renault’s reputation to be an inclusive brand, by making sure nobody is left behind in the way towards cleaner mobilities. Indeed, electric is facing many barriers and fears: even though people all agree the future belongs to electric cars, only 7% are ready to buy one today. The remaining 93% still think they need more autonomy, infrastructures or to leave in a big city to switch to electric. As the leader of electric and the Voitures à Vivre brand, it was Renault’s mission to convince them that switching to electric was possible for everyone, no matter where you live. Because if it is possible in Appy, it is possible everywhere. Raising awareness on Appy, and on Renault More than putting Appy under the spotlight, the Village Electrique has definitely boosted Renault’s brand reputation. The net sentiment is largely positive (+1,61), supported by a growing attractiveness, meaning the perceived quality before and after purchase, and good quality of services. It also raised Renault above average in terms of awareness and consideration: Renault is at 84%, compared to 83% for Peugeot and 49% for the market average. More precisely, Renault is above average in almost every aspect of the brand’s consideration: especially in ‘trust’ and ‘committed to society’. It shows again how the Village Electrique was embedded and coherent within Renault’s culture while pushing its commitments even further. Zoe, from alternative to iconic What is interesting to point out is how the Village raised the awareness of Zoé, turning this recent model (only 10 years old !) into a reference among Renault’s range, on the same basis as Twingo or Clio. Zoé started as an original and alternative vehicle, with its born electric design, to become today truly iconic.

Sales Success

One year after the launch of the campaign, Renault increased its ZOE’s sales by 50% and officially became the best E.V. seller in Europe. Indeed with 37,409 units, the Renault Zoe dominates the segment, ahead of the Peugeot e-208, Tesla Model 3, Hyundai Kona and Kia e-Niro. Market share of electric cars in 2020 : 6,7% (vs 1,9% in 2019

Conclusion

A Rendez-Vous more than a conclusion That’s hard to conclude about Appy for two main reasons. First, the experiment is still alive and keep going for 2 more years so we keep learning and being surprised by what happens every day there. Let’s share an example as a second reason why we cannot talk about a “conclusion”. Some days after the launch, many mayors of other towns were kind of jealous and called Appy’s Mayor to ask him how they did to be chosen by Renault and if they could have the opportunity to join the movement. There were no better money for our work and no better brief to imagine the next chapter of this story. That is why we immediately went back to work to bring it to life with a new season where Appy could be joined by many other villages all around the country. Finally, our mantra would never be so true, if it’s possible here, it’s possible everywhere. This is exactly what we are actually working on. Afterwards, more than unique, Appy would be the first. More than a conclusion so, take it as a Rendez-Vous.

Discounting Factors

When winter is coming, feedback is welcome A video was made by Konbini in March 2021 to collect feedback from the Appy inhabitants after 9 months of having their Zoé. In addition to the overall great feedback, the inhabitants confirmed Zoé was also perfectly adaptable to winter climate and snowy roads. This video served as a follow to the Village Electric adventure and revived awareness around this activation, with more than 2K likes on Facebook and the Konbini platform.