THIERRY GETS THE RED CARD! MOVE OVER NICOLE!
17 October 2005 - Renault

Here come ''Ben and Sophie'' with twice the Va Va Voom

Renault Clio advertisements have been deeply engrained in the public’s consciousness over the last 14 years with a light hearted series of characters representing the chic, fun and stylish French supermini that has now been a firm favourite in the UK Top 10 sales chart for over 10 years.

The launch of an all-new Clio on Saturday 15th October means the start of an all-new campaign taking over from Thierry Henry’s four-year search for the meaning of Va Va Voom. Aired first during the evening of Thursday 13th October, new characters Sophie (French) and Ben (British) show that New Clio has ''Twice the Va Va Voom'' by adding a modern twist to the age-old battle of France vs. Britain!

French Car, British Designers

Whilst France and Britain still like to battle it out on a regular basis, the message from the new Clio commercial is simple – Clio combines the best that these two nations have to offer by being a French car but with many British designers on the Clio team. Hence twice the Va Va Voom.

''Nicole? Papa!''

The Ben and Sophie characters follow in the footsteps of some of the most memorable characters to ever appear on television, the first of whom, of course, were Nicole and Papa, that famous French father and daughter who launched the first Clio way back in 1991. For seven years and eight episodes, actors Estelle Skornik and Max Douchin dashed around Provence and Paris in their Clios.

The cliffhanger of Nicole’s wedding to either Vic Reeves or Bob Mortimer at the launch of Clio II attracted an amazing 23 million viewers one Friday night in May 1998 – six million more than normally watched Coronation Street, the programme during which it aired. You may remember that Vic was jilted at the altar as Nicole ran off with Bob, in a new Clio of course!

According to the independent Car Advertising Research Study by Sofres Automotive, the Nicole and Papa story is the most successful car advertisement ever, with a record 93% recall figure and, more importantly, interviewees could recall that the couple were advertising a Renault Clio. As well as being the best-known car commercial, the British public voted it their favourite car commercial of all time in a Channel 4 / Sunday Times poll in 2000.

Size Matters

Nicole and Papa left our screens for the last time in 1998 and up stepped new 30 something French actress Hélène Mahieu, representing a more sophisticated Clio that had grown in size, performance and refinement. Moreover, it was Hélène’s seductive and authoritative mouth that spoke the words ''Va Va Voom'' for the first time, describing that certain something all Clios have.

Va Va Voom

It was a theme that was developed further in 2002 when the Clio campaign baton was handed over to French International football star Thierry Henry. Over the next three years, he was to search for the definitive meaning of ‘Va Va Voom’ - the phrase that has come to be synonymous with the Renault Clio brand. Even after enlisting the help of Animal from The Muppet Show, Thierry was unable to pin it down.

However, once again the magic of the Clio ads had worked their wonder. The English language had a new phrase and the latest 2005 version of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary had a new entry. They defined it is ''The quality of being exciting, vigorous or sexually attractive''. Maybe, maybe not……....!

Twice the Va Va Voom

Now, with New Clio III on sale from Saturday 15 October 2005, the Va Va Voom theme is given a new twist by recognising that Renault has a very international design team in Paris and in fact, the British influence on the look of the New Clio was substantial.

Under the direction of Patrick Le Quément, Head of Renault design (Patrick has one British and one French parent so is himself the perfect example of mixing the two nationalities!), the head of car design is Anthony Grade, a member of the British Grade media dynasty. For reasons of industrial confidentiality, further names cannot be disclosed but the dashboard and interior of New Clio was conceived by a British designer whilst other Brits were on the team that styled the exterior.

This was the inspiration for the light-hearted look at the best of France and Britain giving Clio, Twice the Va Va Voom. So of course, two characters are needed to represent the two countries, hence ''Ben and Sophie''.

The Script

The ad opens with Ben and Sophie driving their Clios (of course!) with Ben declaring his allegiance to Britain and Sophie to France. The banter between the two then starts as they highlight some of best things about their country, teasing each other as only good friends can.

''The Eiffel tower'' starts Sophie confidently. ''Blackpool tower?'' replies a smiling Ben.

Proudly standing next to a painting of the Duke of Wellington, Ben announces ''1815 Waterloo''. ''The 18.15 from Waterloo?'' queries a puzzled looking Sophie with the Eurostar train in the background.

''Cinema'' proclaims Sophie, Ben bats back with ''Television''

''The hot air balloon'' says Sophie only to be countered by ''Jet engine'' from Ben.

''Haute cuisine'' versus the British ''Sandwich'' is the fifth comparison.

''Jules Verne, Jean Paul Sartre, Baudelaire'' says Sophie in the battle of the authors, but Ben trumps her with ''Shakespeare''.

Seemingly, the final counterpoint, Sophie proudly declares ''French car'' from the driver’s seat of her New Clio. ''British designers'' declares Ben to a shocked looking Sophie.

As they both lean against the Clio on the steps of Montmartre in Paris, Sophie has one last go ''Paris, the most romantic city in the world'' Ben turns to her with a cheeky smile ''Lets see'' ………..leaving the door open for episode two perhaps?

Having achieved the bringing together of the best of France and Britain, Clio now has ''Twice the Va Va Voom'' says the end frame.

Marketing Director Olivier Genereux

Renault UK’s Marketing Director Olivier Généreux when asked why end the successful Thierry Henry campaign commented ''It is always very difficult to take the decision to end a campaign which the public like and, importantly, where there is a strong and positive association between the advert and the product being promoted. Clio and Va Va Voom are now very heavily linked but this is why Renault and Publicis, our advertising agency, have chosen to develop the campaign with ''Twice the Va Va Voom''.

He continued ''Each new version of Clio has been marked with a new campaign and we didn’t want to shy away from that precedent. We all hope the public will take to Sophie and Ben as much as they did the previous characters and will also enjoy the light-hearted teasing that we, as the UK arm of a French company, feel we understand more than most!''

There is a dedicated web site – www.vavavoom.co.uk – that has the latest advert and lots of information about the campaign.

''Sophie''

By coincidence, the actors playing the characters have had similar careers to the causes they champion, be it film or television.

Sophie, played by Annelise Hesme, 29, is from Paris and has enjoyed an extensive French film career since 1999. One of her few English-speaking roles were in Oliver Stone’s ''Alexander'' playing opposite Colin Farrell. Her next project will be staring in ''Long Metrage'' with Audrey Tautou.

''Ben''

Jeremy Sheffield plays the part of ''Ben'' and has been a regular on television. He is best known in the UK for his three-year stint on BBC 1’s drama ''Holby City'' where he played Dr Alex Adams.

More recently Jeremy has made two Hollywood movies, ''Creep'' a horror picture and ''The Wedding Date'' a romantic comedy staring Debra Messing from TV’s ''Will and Grace'' which was a hit this Summer where Jeremy plays the third lead - Messing’s character’s ex-boyfriend.

The ''ad''

Created by Renault’s advertising agency Publicis, ''French car, British designers'' was produced by RSA Films and directed by Jordan Scott, the daughter of film director Ridley Scott.

Filmed in Paris, London and Blackpool, venues included the Library at the Athenaeum Club in St. James’, Great Eastern dining room and, of course, the steps of Montmartre in Paris.

Music is provided by Nina Simone, singing ''Sinnerman''.

Sophie’s dress is by Prada and shoes by Marc Jacobs.

www.renault.co.uk

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