Renault Clio

What have Paul Smith and Arsene Wenger got in common?
(See below)

'It’s a girlie car, I wouldn’t be seen dead in one of them’ Narrow minded perhaps, extreme and irrational certainly, but this was the commonly held male driver view of the Renault Clio.

The marketing brief was simple. ‘Inject some maleness into the Clio without alienating the loyal female customer base’ whilst being sensitive to the importance of Clio advertising, to the marque and its historical success.

To this end CSR explored a number of creative ideas and embryonic scripts.

Using Thierry Henry as a spokesperson for the model was one of many options being considered by Publicis.

Our research spotlighted the potential of Thierry Henry. Admired and respected by men, fancied by women and crucially French he was the perfect fit for the Clio.

We supported the agency's proposal to use him and given the historical success of previous Clio campaigns reassured Renault that this change in direction was appropriate (he is a Premiership footballer after all!)

Our research further underlined the potential for the term ‘Va Va Voom’ Not only has it become synonymous with the Renault Clio but it was recently included in the Oxford English dictionary!

An inspired performance by CSR and deserved victory for Renault.

Man of the match
Thierry Henry!