Centre Pompidou #SouvenirsDeParis by Marcel agency

What makes a visitor attraction a "must-see" for tourists staying in Paris? Its beauty? Its stunning views? Its rich history? In other words: what does the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Sacré Coeur and the Notre-Dame Cathedral have in common?

That's what the Centre Pompidou set out to find out. Although Parisians come in their thousands to visit or revisit the Centre, which is home to one of the largest modern and contemporary art collections in the world, international tourists seem mostly unaware of this gem. As a result, they are missing out on a collection that rivals the MoMa in New York, or even the Tate Modern in London.

The solution? It was discovered that the most visited Parisian landmarks have a surprising thing in common which makes them essential activities on any tourist's itinerary.

 

Tell us about your role in the creation of this work.

Gaëtan du Peloux, creative director at Marcel.

With Youri Guerassimov my creative partner, our main role has been to protect and make this amazing idea come to life exactly as it came to life inside the head of the creative team who found it. Because having a great idea is one thing. But making it happen without too much compromises at the end is one other.

Give us an overview of the campaign, what is it about?

The Centre Pompidou is the second world’s biggest modern art museum, in the center of the world’s most touristic town. (It’s like the Moma in New York or the Tate in London). Having said that, tourists still don’t go there… they prefer the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame de Paris, The Arc de Triomphe …

So we had to find a creative way to talk to them and make the Centre Pompidou a “must see” in their list. So we looked at the most touristic places of Paris and found that they have one thing in common:  miniature souvenirs.

By creating our own, we are entering “through the window” in the top 5  of the iconic monuments of Paris. This is brave, subversive, fun and a real mirror of this art museum that exhibits Wharol, Banksy, Koons, McCarty, Duchamp and others genius iconoclasts.

And more importantly, this is a very efficient way to make the tourists discover the Centre Pompidou!

Tell us about the details creative brief, what did it ask?

The Centre Pompidou came to us with this problem: Parisians visit us but not the international tourists.

They ask Marcel to come up with a fantastic print and OOH campaign to cover Paris during summer.

So we answered them that this was a fantastic idea to throw in the drain the little money that left in their pocket. Instead, we pulled out of our pocket a miniature of the Centre Pompidou attached to a keying. After few seconds of silence … they applauded. Since this moment, they are supporting us like they do with their artists.

Which insight led to the creation of this piece of work?

Look at what the street-sellers and the souvenirs shops have for sale: this is an instant pic of what you can’t miss if you visit a new town.

Can you share with us any alternative ideas (if any) for this campaign? Why was this idea chosen?  

Of course we can’t share alternative ideas, but we can easily explain why we have chosen this one : it was the best creative answer combined with the best efficient answer.

And I personally love the question that this idea raise: is it the fame that makes the miniature souvenir or is it the miniature souvenir that makes the fame ? I think that if you don’t want to wait a hundred years to build a strong reputation, the second option is worth trying!

What was the greatest challenge that you and your team faced during development.

The manufacturing of the miniature!

The building itself is a work of modern art, by famous architect Renzo Piano. So first, we had to make a simplification that was ok with mister Piano. Then, find a French manufacturer that could produce an enormous amount of miniatures at a chinese rate… Finally, we found the good guy and he almost died (like all Marcel team) when he saw that his work is now exposed in the Centre Pompidou, like every other masterpiece! This is a surprise that the museum did for the launch of the campaign!

We are totally blown away that this miniature has entered into the permanent collection.

What did you enjoy most about seeing this campaign through? Did you learn anything new from the experience?

To succeed in those kind of projects, you need to have learnt from previous experiences.

And what we have learnt is that since the very first moment of the conception, you need to think about the reality. Because at the end, it will be real tourists that will buy or not the miniature, it will be real tourists that will come or not to the museum and it will be real haters that will comment or not on social networks. So go in the streets, and confront your ideas to reality!

That’s a key point of some of our past great campaigns like the inglorious fruits & vegetables or the Black Supermarket.

Where do you see this campaign going in the future?

We hope to see street-sellers with chinese fakes of our miniature!