A new series of small, short and triumphant spots from French sporting goods retailer Decathlon offer up a set of quiet moments of personal triumph, contemplation and communion to drive home the message that ‘Sport Makes The World Better’.
The European campaign, created in harness with agency Romance, features everyday people of all ages and backgrounds and is built around a series of 12-second spots which all offer an understated, yet intense inward glance.
The creative agency worked with La/Pac directors Michel and Nicolas Arribehaute (Michel + Nico) to offer viewers not only raw scenes of physical exertion but also glimpses of inner resolve and spiritual satisfaction as a way of showing the varied ways that sport can provide a modicum of inner peace and thus make the world a little better.
Thus the campaign showcases a series of ritual vignettes: surfers cleaning up the beach, a kid riding a scooter at a skate park to improve the concrete surface and a tennis player who improves a rain-lashed wall by using it to practice her groundstrokes, plus a runner soothing hi legs in a shower following a long run.
“When talking to the Decathlon team, we discovered they had a very precise vision of sports: Everywhere there is sports, the world is doing better,” explained Romance strategy head Jérôme Lavillat. “We found that vision very interesting, especially at a time when the world is not doing so well. What if sports could actually be part of the solution to everything we are going through—the pandemic, environmental and social crises? What if, by practicing sports, we all had the power to make the world better?”
“Decathlon covers disciplines and ranges from beginner to advanced level. We needed to be able to cover a very wide range of practices and type of practitioner. A short format was ideal for that,” added Romance strategy planner Sam Naggar.
The campaign was created for Decathlon France Communications Leader Erwan Soquet, Communication Director (France) Erika Vanobbergen, Content Leader (France) Jean Chevalier and Campaign Coordinator (France) Guillaume Ramond by a team at Romance.
The group at the agency who worked on the campaign included CEO Christophe Lichtenstein, Executive Creative Director Alexandre Hervé, Copywriter Alexandre Hervé
Creative Director Frederick Lung, Art Director Julien Rézette, Head of Strategy Jérôme Lavillat, Strategic Planners Benoît Clavé and Sam Naggar, Associate Director Émilie Franck, Account Director Arthur Amis, Account Manager Charlotte Seillier, plus TV Producers Émilie Talpaert and Florence Gabet.
The production was handled by La/Pac with Directors Michel + Nico and DOP Snorre Ruhe.
Comment:
Instead of the scenes of big name stars celebrating in front of huge, adoring fans which have become so familiar in sports retailer and sportswear advertising creative, this approach offers a refreshing alternative which takes a distinctly low key approach to cutting through the clutter.
The understated tone is one of moody realism and, for the most part, the viewer doesn’t even see the protagonists playing their sport of choice.
There are echoes here of agency Romance’s previous work for French supermarket giant Intermarché and this approach, arguably, offers a perceptive take on the pent up desire which has built up around pandemic confinement.
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