Car Maintenance Brand Feu Vert’s Mascot Turns Avenger (Almost)

Vehicle maintenance brand Feu Vert has turned its faithful brand mascot Ramses into an action hero—or at least that’s the potential pitch for its latest ad campaign.

The company, which claims to service the cars and bikes of 10 million customers across its 450 car centers in Europe each year, has a white cat as its mascot who is positioned as one of the main decisionmakers in this spot.

The car maintenance brand aims to accelerate its digital development and b-to-b business as it expands through franchising, predominantly in France, Portugal and Spain.

Created by Buzzman, the meta 40-second hero cinema and TV campaign sees a superpowered cat battle a large robotic monster as it rampages through a city, but there’s a twist along the way that involves a misunderstanding on the part of the creative team. The visual effects sequence within the campaign was created by The Mill.

“Today more than ever, people are concerned about purchasing power. In France, we call it pouvoir d’achat. This word sounds really close to ‘chat,’ which means cat in French. So, as a popular brand led by a cat mascot, we saw an opportunity for Feu Vert to take over the trend. We decided to fight for le pouvoir d’achat with our cat and its pouvoir du chat,” Tristan Daltroff, a creative director for Buzzman, explained to Adweek.

The aim of the campaign is to promote the message that Feu Vert has “the power” to save customers money on vehicle services.

“It’s a play on words, but we took it seriously and brought it to an outstanding level of craft and excellence. The result is a Marvel feature epic scene ending with an awkward agency-client moment of misunderstanding,” added Louis Audard, another creative director who led the campaign’s idea development.

Released on May 25, the campaign is running across TV, digital and radio, while movie posters will appear in Feu Vert stores and across social media.

“We are currently experiencing a period of inflation, which puts purchasing power as the main concern for consumers. It is in this context that Feu Vert is launching a new, bold and legitimate campaign, highlighting its ability to offer advantageous deals for motorists,” Vincent Claisse, marketing and communication director for Feu Vert, told Adweek.

“These new films, supported by a powerful media campaign, aim to increase our advertising visibility and reassure our customers by stating that Feu Vert remains the best alternative to the manufacturers’ network for car maintenance.”

Claisse added that the mission of the brand was to “become a reference in the automotive after/sales sector.”

Credits:

Feu Vert

Marketing and communication director: Vincent Claisse
Communication and conquest marketing director: Gilles Pont
Brand communication officer: Hélène Lamour
Media communication officer: Laure Carron-Fourt

Buzzman

President and executive creative director: Georges Mohammed-Chérif
Vice president: Thomas Granger
Managing director: Julien Levilain
Creative directors: Tristan Daltroff and Louis Audard
Creative assistants: Tom Lahetjuzan and Victor Christophe
Business director: Laura Quiles
Account executive: Maeva Lang
Head of communication and PR: Paul Renaudineau
PR and communication assistants: Marie Smid and Anouck Vallez
Head of TV production: Vanessa Barbel
TV production: Saveria Besset and Morgane Gaspard

Production: Iconoclast

Sound production The
Director: Antoine de Barry
Producer: Camille Lambert
Post production: Poster
3D production: The Mill