The way in which Impr!nt has been set up to operate is well-illustrated by the recent launch of AOL Canada into French-speaking Quebec. Running in September and October of 2001, the campaign accomplished the client’s goals by developing a unique method for linking the AOL brand with the French premiere of the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan film You’ve Got Mail.
The goal
After six years exclusively serving English Canada, AOL decided to launch its service into French-speaking Quebec, but a formidable hurdle existed: Quebecers consider themselves a distinct society and perpetuate a sentiment of individuality and cultural separation. The challenge was to convince a group of Canadians that don’t necessarily even want to be considered Canadians to go one further and use ‘America’ Online.
The insights
The cultural differences relative to English Canada in combination with the core AOL marketing strategy led Starcom to two compelling insights:
* ‘Accessibility and connectivity’ helped the agency tap into French Canadian society’s propensity to want to play matchmaker. They love to bring other people together (connectivity), and especially with friends and family (accessibility).
* Beyond the language and cultural distinction in Quebec, there exists a very strong indigenous celebrity culture as well. Media properties that are woven into this distinct cultural fabric needed to be developed. A Québécois face was needed for the AOL service.
The strategy
The idea was to recreate the premise of ‘boy meets girl’ in the TVA premiere of You’ve Got Mail with live Quebec viewers, and execute it entirely within the movie broadcast.
Participants were recruited on-air and online and four finalists were chosen. They were featured prior to and during the movie, and viewers were encouraged to ‘play matchmaker’ and vote for their favourite couple. The winning couple was announced at the end of the broadcast and featured live the following morning on the number-one morning show in Quebec.
By recognizing that the AOL service led the Hanks and Ryan characters to fall in love, Starcom created the illusion of product placement, and implied endorsement of the AOL service via two high-profile actors – at no expense. The integration of the Quebec viewing population ensured a localized look and feel to the program. PS
