How did you arrive at your current position as Integrated Art Director for Publicis Canada and what have been your career highlights in the lead up to this point?

I started my career as a digital creative at Isobar Paris, working on brands like Disney, Heineken, Renault and Sony before becoming an integrated creative in Grey Paris on Lacoste, Boss and Pringles. I was working in Paris for 5 years and I decided to move to Canada 3 years ago. I was curious to discover how North Americans create advertising campaigns and tried to combine that with my European state of mind and way of thinking.

The first task I received at Publicis Canada was to help to create the digital team for our Office in Montreal. Our entire digital team was in Toronto and I was the first digital creative in Montreal. The team is now large enough and full of talented people.

My mission now as an integrated Art director is to create innovative campaigns using different media with synergy (TV, digital, street marketing, outdoor, PR…).

My creative directors give me a lot of freedom in my work. I work on ideas; I can be art director, director, motion designer, video editor, sound designer.

How is the art department at Publicis Canada structured and what relationship do you have with the rest of the Publicis network?

Our creative directors encourage all creatives to work with different types of media, digital or otherwise. That is why the art department is structured in one open space with all the creatives. For each new brief we try to create a new team mixing strategists, art directors, writers and designers. About the Publicis network, our worldwide creative directors visit us, in Canada, a couple of times each year. Plus we have a videoconference room that allows us to communicate with other offices around the world.

What is the most exciting brand campaign you have ever worked on?

It is hard to tell…but I’m actually working on a very exciting campaign for the Ubisoft video game Watchdogs. In this game, the main character is a hacker who can control pretty much all the electronic devices in the city with his phone. My team and I have created a mobile app that allows you to hack real locations in Canada with your phone and see real consequences, live. We would like to create a campaign that brings the experience that happens in the game, to real life. So people can experience what it feels like to be a hacker. I invite you to try it for yourself! The app is free and available until November: ‘watchdogslive.ca‘. Exclusively in Canada… for now…
Hope you like the campaign!

What are the most rewarding aspects about your job?

The most rewarding aspect about my job is having the chance to work with a lot of talented people sharing different approaches like creative directors, directors, illustrators, motion designers, developers, writers, web designers, musicians etc.

And when those people believe in me, that drives my energy and inspiration.

You have worked for some of the world’s most celebrated market leading brands including Coca-Cola, Disney, Sony, Virgin, Chanel, L’Oreal, P&G, Kellogg’s and Renault. Talk us through some of the most memorable briefs you have received from some of these clients and how you responded.

One time, I had a brief from a famous food brand in France. The client was looking for a TV spot, a radio spot and a print campaign to launch his new product. I only came back with a banner. The entire team in our agency liked the creative idea and believed that it was the best way to reach our target. The banner has been seen 4 million times and received many distinctions including recognition at the Cannes Lions Festival. The brand has increased its product sales x5 during the launch campaign. In the end, we didn’t need to produce the TV spot, radio spot or print campaign.

Your creative work has won many awards at Cannes lions, One Show, New York Festival, Grands Prix Stratégie and French Click Awards. Tell us about one of these campaigns and explain why you think it received such high critical acclaim.

One cinema campaign springs to mind. The idea was to grab the attention of the audience while they were watching the trailers, making them believe that it is a basic computer that projects movies in cinemas. A message alert would pop-up on the screen (with the interface and the sound of MSN Messenger) displaying an embarrassing message from a girl that seems to be having a conversation with the movie operator in the cinema (the guy projecting the movie from the dark room). The operator answers by typing something like ‘can’t talk! I’m working! I am projecting a movie’ but she continues bothering him with some messages like ‘Luv you kiss xoxo’. The operator stops the trailers to close MSN Messenger and replays the rest of the trailer like nothing happened. This campaign was made for French cinema group ‘MK2’ to launch their video on demand website. At the end of the trailers, the following message appeared: ‘MK2 Video on demand: the cinema is now on your computer’.

I am particularly proud of this because it was an ‘out of the box’ idea made without a brief. A totally home-made, pro-active campaign that allowed us to win a new, great client. I think the reason why this campaign has won many international awards is because the idea was innovative and simple! 5 years ago, it was very new in advertising to play with the audience during the trailers. Even though it’s an old idea now, I still like it…

Select three projects from your portfolio to tell us about.

Coca-Cola :

Coca-Cola was looking for some digital ideas/activations to enhance their campaign and connect teens (12-17 year olds) with the brand. I worked with another Art Director, a kick ass Art Director, and together, we came up with a simple idea: A Coke machine called ‘EmotiCoke’ that speaks the same language as teens (using emoticons 😉 😛 🙂 ;-S ) to make them smile).

With a face recognition technology, the ‘Emoticoke’ captures facial expressions in real time and translates them using emoticons. Teens just have to smile to get a free Coke!

Montreal Live the language:

I was living in Montreal for 2 years, when I decided with the help of a friend of mine to make a video which captured the spirit of this city. The video is inspired by a series of great videos made by the director Gustav Johansson about cities like Los Angeles, Paris and London… So I thought ‘Why not Montreal!?’. On this project, I was Director, Art Director, Illustrator and also did the video editing. And I’m proud to say that Gustav Johansson loved the video too!

Ben Wilkins:

I had the chance to work on a music video for Ben Wilkins, having met the Canadian singer & song writer a few years ago. He told me that he would love to make a music video for his first album and asked me if I could make it. He is so talented and I love his music, so I thought that I just had to help him! I was also surprised when he told me: ‘I like your work, you can pick any song in my album and do everything you want. I will let you decide 100%’. And he did!!! I’m so happy that he trusted me, even though it was one of my first music videos as Director. I directed this video with my friend Laurent Outan. It would be cool if you like the video, but even better if you like Ben’s song!

Who or what drives your creativity?

All the people, famous or not, that are sharing their work on the web. There are so many talented artists in the world, and when I look at all the creativity, it makes me think that I have to keep working hard and learn for the rest of my life to be part of that. For as long as I can…
I am also a huge fan of agencies such as: W+K, Droga5, GS&P, the digital agencies like: B-Reel, First Born, Fi, and also studios like The Mill & Stardust.

Who or what has influenced you the most throughout your career?

I had the chance to work with Andrea Stillacci (Founder & president at Herezie Paris) and Jeremie Bottiau (Creative director at Marcel Worldwide). 5 years ago, they convinced me to come and work with them at Grey Paris. At this time, I was a complete digital guy but they welcomed me into their creative family. I was surprised to see that they were considering my ideas for TV, stunt, viral, outdoor, print, even though I had a digital background.

These guys were encouraging me and believed in me. When I suggested an idea that has never been done before, when others would say ‘That’s impossible, that’s way too complicated to make’, Andrea and Jeremie would say ‘Great! We’ll make it possible. Let’s do this now’.

I also had the chance to work with the creative team of Giovanni Settesoldi and Luissandro Del Gobbo (Creative Directors at Ogilvy Chicago). They are two of the most talented creatives I’ve ever met. I’ve never told them, but they inspire me a lot.

What does your workstation look like?

A huge graphic tablet, a screen that’s bigger than me and lot of toys!

What would be your dream project to art direct?

I would love to make a crazy campaign like Old Spice or Skittles. I would also love to work on a very cinematic campaign for Nike, Cartier or Vuitton… And maybe one day on an independent short film, but as director.