Renault’s Megane Experiment a winner

By Tom Phillips

27th October 2010

Renault’s ad campaign with a difference is going from strength to strength. The firm commissioned London-based ad agency Publicis to come up with a publicity campaign to do the Megane range justice.
 
The result was ‘Can a Car Change a Town?’ which saw a quirky Frenchman named Claude travel from his home town of Menton, on the Cote d’Azur to the tiny Lancashire town of Gisburn. After working with local residents for a week, and spreading a little Megane-inspired joie de vivre, Claude’s successfully convinces the locals to have some fun.
 
His exploits included convincing the local landlord to change the name of his pub from the White Bull to the Bouef Blanc, and holding a Festival de Joie on the local playing fields that 300 of the town’s 500 residents turned out for. Claude also gave away his own Megane at the festival.
 
Oscar-nominated director Henry-Alex Rubin, who shot over 48 hours of film over five days, filmed the Megane Experiment. As well as a dedicated website, the Megane Experiment has been played out over various media forms, including on Facebook, where Claude now has almost 13,00 likes.
 
Despite being conceived as an ad campaign, the Megane Experiment has been such a success that the Mayor of Gisburn, Lois Rimmer, has just invited Claude to return to open a new deli, and is exploring the possibility of becoming the official twin town of Menton.