Renault pitches France against UK in comic ads

The revised marketing strategy associates Renault with Gallic culture, akin to its "Nicole and Papa" ads of the 80s and 90s. The aim of the campaign, created by Publicis, is to improve UK sales of the Megane saloon, which is losing out to the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra.

Ads will contrast the Côte d’Azur resort of Menton with Gisburn in Lancashire to establish which has the greatest "joie de vivre". The tongue-in-cheek spots will compare a swimming pool in Menton with a puddle in Gisburn, and show a French couple at a sunny seaside restaurant and a British couple outside a pub in bad weather.

A 10-day teaser TV and print campaign, launching this week, will claim Menton contains more than 21 Meganes, while Gisburn has none. Consumers will be directed to a website at themeganeexperiment.com, which will follow the journey of Claude as he drives a Megane from Menton to Lancashire.

From next month, a follow-up TV, print, radio and digital push will follow Renault's attempts to give Gisburn greater joie de vivre. Extra content will be avail-able on YouTube and Renault TV.

Phil York, Renault UK marketing director, said: "Megane is not on enough shopping lists at the moment."

UK sales of the French marque have declined, with new vehicle registrations in 2009 down nearly 30% year on year, according to the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

However, in the first six months of this year, Renault’s UK sales across all models increased by 120% year on year.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk