Already very active in Wallonia, the ASBL Habitat et Participation has decided to promote its Brussels pole with an advertisement in order to dynamize grouped and solidarity habitats. They contacted us to create a communication campaign for them.
A social network oriented video concept
For the promotion of their home show, we proposed a simple and social network oriented concept: show the inhabitants in their environment by making them hold a wooden sign. Based on the fact that social networks cut the sound when broadcasting videos, a graphic and textual support was needed to effectively spread the message of the A.S.B.L.
Working with ‘real’ people to reinforce the authenticity of the ad
A major trend in the advertising approach is to work with ‘real people’. Meaning: anything but professional actors. While this approach is appealing in its promise of authenticity, it is nevertheless tricky to implement.
In our case, the casting took place in two stages. First of all, by means of an on-site survey. Then, on the day of the shoot, we called on all the people who were available and wanted to get involved. This was only possible because the subject matter really engaged the participants and also because we were a very light team, less intimidating than a ‘real’ film crew with a heavy infrastructure. A final difficulty obviously arises when it comes to ‘playing’, even in a small way. In our case, the use of signs allowed us to free ourselves from this constraint and our job consisted above all in making our actors feel confident and in a good mood.
21.000 views on social networks
Thanks to a web activation operated by the A.S.B.L., our campaign exceeded 21,000 people in cumulative views on Facebook. In addition to this, there is a broadcast on BX1. The grouped housing exhibition was a great success with excellent media coverage, a sustained public and the gestation of many grouped housing projects. And all with the congratulations of the jury, as Joannie Thys explains: “In 30 seconds, you have succeeded, through this video, in synthesizing in a dynamic and attractive way all the aspects of clustered housing. This quality was also noticed by Mrs. Céline Frémault, Minister of Housing of the Brussels Capital Region, who congratulated our communication work and more precisely the realization of our promotional capsule during her opening speech at the fair. I hope that we will soon have the opportunity to relive this beautiful professional complementarity. Until then, I wish you many beautiful audio-visual projects.
