Romance has been creating beautiful, emotionally super-charged stories for Intermarché since 2017. This will be the agency’s fourth. The stories are not extravagantly fanciful. They add little flourishes of imagination to realistic scenarios, making them both heartwarming and relatable. This one in particular.

It’s a Christmas story, but it’s not about Santa Claus. Director, Katia Lewkowicz, interweaves parallel stories in which two young men deal with the same challenge – a critically ill man. One is the man’s son; the other is his nurse. The broader story is a tribute to France’s health workers, who have been sacrificing everything this year to take care of others. Intermarché has elegantly set itself back in the story, which doesn’t look like advertising, but more like a cinematic short film.

At a time when the country is experiencing the recurrence of this health crisis and the weariness of confinement seems to have set in, it encourages its French audiences to note that Christmas is the best time to remember their commitment to fighting the pandemic and to say thank you once again to those working to look after them.

“We couldn’t imagine celebrating Christmas without paying tribute to the heroes of the year: the caregivers. Intermarché has been sharing the daily lives of French people on the front line since the confinement of spring: the agricultural world, local shops and hospital staff. They are part of our ecosystem and our stores work with them on a daily basis,” stated Vincent Bronsard, director of Intermarché’s strategic and operational marketing department.

Alexandre Hervé, executive creative director of Romance, noted, “Each new project in the saga is a challenge. This time we wanted to make a film that would live up to the exceptional year we have lived through, marked by the commitment and sacrifices of the caregivers. It is this anchoring in the times and its current events that builds the link between Intermarché and the French people.”

“We have been building an emotional territory for three years with the trust of Intermarché,” added Christophe Lichtenstein, chief executive officer of Romance. “We must also put the power of the brand at the service of civic and just causes. This is the only possible way to give more meaning to our businesses.”

Credits:

Client: Intermarché
CEO: Thierry Cotillard
Strategic & Operational Marketing Director: Vincent Bronsard
Marketing & Communication Director: Anne-Marie Gaultier
Brand & Communication Manager: Camille Sassi
Brand & Communication Director: Anne Guivarch
Media Manager: Hervé Ribaud
Advertising Manager: Aurélie Ansart
Project Manager: Julie Antoine
Media Project Manager: Marion Malezieux

Agency: Romance
CEO: Christophe Lichtenstein
Executive Creative Director & Copywriter: Alexandre Hervé
Copywriter: Philippe Pinel
Art Director: Julien Rézette
Senior Strategic Planner: Jérome Lavillat
Account Team: Marie-Laure Dangeon, Emilie Franck, Arthur Amis & Julie Valero
TV Producer: Emilie Talpaert

Production Company: Grand Bazar
Director : Katia Lewkowicz
DOP: Laurent Tangy
Music: Terrenoire – Jusqu’à mon dernier souffle
Sound Production: Schmooze
Sound Design: Alexandre Rabia @ Universal