Ads We Like: Paris’ Pompidou elbows onto the tourist map by creating own line of statuettes
Paris’ Centre Pompidou – known the English-speaking world as the Pompidou Centre – has attempted to place itself in the same tourist league as the Eiffel Tower and the Notre-Dame Cathedral by creating its own line of souvenir statuettes.
Pompidou Centre
The art gallery tasked Publicis agency Marcel to revamp its reputation to become a must-see destination for international tourists visiting the French capital. Currently, the centre is popular with Parisians, but not so much with those from out of town.
The agency noted the likes of the Arc de Triomphe and the Sacré Coeur were all available to purchase in miniature form by the side of the road, but not the Pompidou. So, mimicking the usual statuettes on offer outside of these popular destinations, Marcel created its own batch of Pompidous.
A QR code was printed on the base of the souvenirs that revealed an automatic map to the centre when scanned by a smart phone.
Marcel then ‘flooded the city’ with its creations, hiring its own ‘squad’ of Pompidou sellers. The gang set up shop in front of the typical Parisian sites in order to divert tourist traffic to the art gallery. These hustlers also doubled as marketers for the destination.
Finally, the campaign saw mini buses drive through the streets picking up tourists and dropping them at the centre for free.
The centre has released an online video charting its below-the-line efforts using the campaign hashtag #SouvenirsDeParis.
