Lil Nas X is as real as it gets. Imma, not so much.

The music star and virtual influencer dive through the looking-glass with other human celebs for Coach’s spring collection campaign set in a colorful CGI universe.

This approach embraces an increasingly blurred line between physical and digital worlds. Notably, it gives Imma—a pixelated marketing powerhouse—equal billing with living, breathing endorsers. In the cyber realm, among young adults, she’s a bankable draw.

Agency Marcel, director Vallée Duhamel and photographer/art director Charlie Engman led creative development. The work also features Camila Mendes, Youngji Lee, Kōki and Wu Jinyan.

Imma meets each, beginning with Lil Nas, in separate spots, and tries to learn their “superpowers.” The X man teaches her to rewrite rules and play by her own game.

“Envisioning Spring, I was inspired to explore the archetypes of American style and the codes that define Coach’s legacy through the point-of-view of today’s generation,” says Coach creative director Stuart Vevers. “‘Find Your Courage’ expresses the feeling I wanted for the collection, where our heritage is the foundation for exciting new possibilities for self-expression.”

Does exploring notions of courage feel a tad haughty for a maker of snazzy bags and purses? For some, perhaps. Then again, we are what we wear—and how we choose to accessorize says a lot.

It’s a lively fusion of realities, a brand-boosting meeting of worlds that feels natural here in 2024 and should only accelerate in the short term.

Thankfully, living talent still fuels and adds dimension to such initiatives. For now.

“Lil Nas was amazing while interacting with a virtual character,” Marcel global creative director Remy Aboukrat tells Muse. “Maybe because he is embracing his different personalities—the one he is in real life and the one he is online. This is also the meaning of this piece: showing our audience that it’s ok to be both until you’re true to yourself.”

As for Imma, she represents “the perfect ambassador to tell this story because she is challenging the notion of what we consider ‘real’ today,” says Coach Global CMO and N.A. president Sandeep Seth. “Her journey in our campaign takes us into a new world that pushes the boundaries of self-expression and inspires us along the way.”

More spots will roll out through May.

For a mesmerizing minute, LADAPT’s “A World Without Limits” by BETC Paris renews our sense of wonder about where technology could take us. (Maybe someday we will chomp a mammoth meatball.) But it grinds down with a question that borders on the (rightfully) ridiculous: With all this pie-in-the-sky rhetoric, why’s it still “complicated” to hire disabled people? One in three companies still haven’t. This precedes European Disability Employment Week, which runs from Nov. 20-26.

In Belgium, Hungry Minds made a deceptively simple ad about cybercrime that also manages to be pretty scary. In “A Simple Click, a Major Clack,” a dopey-looking chap taps his phone. Suddenly everything in his house starts disappearing in a telltale shimmer of digital static. It’s as if cybercriminals were poltergeists, or he was living in The Matrix. This is for Digital Wallonia, which educates people about online hygiene.

Of all the cancers, we most often forget about blood cancer, which scares us most. DKMS and Serviceplan Cologne give us #TakeTwo, a campaign about second chances. The first season introduces us to Daniel, who got leukemia at 19. Following a stem cell donation, he can now fulfill his dream of becoming a tattoo artist. Four episodes follow his journey. Ep 1’s below, but also watch 2, 3 and 4.

It’s rare we see Italian work around here, and we’re thirsty for more, but Lamborghini could do a little better than “Thunder Meets Lightning.” Made by BMF to promote the Revuelto, it features three pro driver buds in a Lambo race challenge that goes from Bologna to the Piero Taruffi Vallelunga Circuit near Rome. Mini Cooper did this better in The Italian Job.

Why settle for first class when you can upgrade to French class? Marcel literally just made that up for DS Automobiles, and if it catches on, we might die of pretentiousness. The ad features a car cruising upside-down over clouds, very Inception meets Vanilla Sky (before both movies get chaotic and scary). It’s set to a cover of “Cheek to Cheek.” This is a promo for the DS 4’s comfort options, which include great acoustics and suspension, night vision, and … wait for it … ChatGPT. (Do we even want to know why?)

In Portugal, Betclic and Shutterstock made a documentary called “Surfing Through the Odds.” It’s an effective 20-minute portrait of African girls fighting for empowerment while surfing with SOMA Surf, an NGO based in São Tomé and Príncipe. Photos of them doing their thing live in the Shutterstock image bank, making them the first Black female surfers to appear in a for-use collection of images and videos … which is nuts. (We’re not totally clear what Betclic gets out of it, besides points with Santa.)

With Innocean, Hyundai Motor U.K. made a series of Channel 4 idents that promote how the car can charge and power appliances. In this case, it chose to focus on a film projector. The ads feature the IONIQ 5 and 6 and the Kona Electric, projecting stuff from different film genres on East London streets. See “Cyber,” “Unicorn” and “Dolphin.” We hope they do another appliance, and that it’s a high-power blender. (We just miss this guy.)

Goings-on: The Polish Association of the Deaf and Group One launched UNMUTE Agency, a first-of-its-kind communications endeavor that’s dedicated to connecting brands and disabled communities. The agency’s first client is BLIK. Notably, from June 2025 onward, private European companies must comply with the EU’s European Accessibility Act, dedicated to … well, making products and services more accessible.

Ogilvy Paris is launching its third edition of Hors-Circuit, a contest in support of more DEI in the creative field. This year, it’s doing it in partnership with Instagram and nonprofit Les Déterminés. Emerging artists have until Nov. 30 to share an Instagram reel of potential projects; the winner gets full creative support. Last year, dancer, screenwriter and director Eugène Bolengu won. He’s currently producing a short film with H&O, Ogilvy Paris’ production arm.

Serviceplan Group absorbed Equmedia in Spain. It will be integrated with Mediaplus, and renamed Mediaplus Equmedia. Guess this means we have to mention that other merger: WPP is mashing up Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R. The resulting entity, VML, goes operational from Jan. 1. Jon Cook will serve as global CEO; Debbi Vandeven will be global chief creative officer.

Through a bit of high-tech smoke and mirrors, telecom giant Orange aims to demonstrate gender equality in soccer. 

The company tasked Marcel with creating a campaign to challenge the perception that women’s football isn’t as thrilling or technically proficient as the men’s game.

The result: a short film that initially deep-fakes viewers into believing they are watching a compilation of action from the French men’s national team. At first, skillful moves from faves such as Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann abound. 

Soon, however, the perspective shifts, and we realize it’s actually a compilation featuring Sarkina Karchaoui, Selma Bacha and other stars of the women’s national team.

To craft the 2-minute clip, Marcel sifted through footage from more than 80 men’s and women’s contests—with an average duration of 95 minutes apiece.

“Although attitudes are changing, especially thanks to the 2019 Women’s FIFA World Cup held in France, we quickly realized that in TV shows, comments on social media, or conversations heard in bars, the discourse surrounding women’s football is still catastrophic, sexist, and full of prejudices that have no place in 2023,” says Margaux Grenouilloux, strategic planner at Marcel.

“We knew that football fans always disagreed on many topics: clubs, players, predictions, the level of women’s teams,” Grenouilloux says. “But we knew that there was one thing they never questioned: beautiful technical skills. The love for skillful plays that garner millions and millions of views on streaming platforms, with ‘best-of’ videos on specialize channels followed by countless football fans.”

According to the High Council for Gender Equality, sexism persists in France, and its most violent manifestations are worsening. Despite the #MeToo movement, sexist stereotypes remain prevalent. Among men aged 25 to 34, nearly a quarter believe that violence is sometimes necessary to earn respect, and 40 percent find it normal for women to stop working to care for their children.

The same research says that 80 percent of women feel they are treated worse than men because of their gender. 

Against that backdrop, Orange’s goal is to support efforts that focus on protection and enforcement, but also to address mindsets from a young age.

The work was done over the course of a year, with a production phase totaling five months. “Compil des Bleues” (or “Blues Compilation”) launched last week, ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, taking place in Australia and New Zealand from July 20-Aug 20.

The campaign runs through the duration of the event and targets fans on platforms maintained by L’Équipe, BeIN Sports, Foot Mercato and the Fédération Française de Football. Influencers across YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat are also taking part.

The video has been shared by current and former players from both the women’s and men’s national teams, various sports personalities, and the French Minister of Sports.

All of the intensity and emotion that ignites a soccer pitch has been transformed into gestures and symphonic sound for a short film from Prime Video Sports. 

The Amazon-owned live streaming channel tasked Paris agency Marcel with creating a piece of entertainment designed to lift Ligue 1, France’s top-tier professional soccer league, which is sponsored by Uber Eats. Thus, the “Ligue 1 Uber Eats Symphony” was born. It’s an original orchestral composition based on the body language of soccer coaches.

A version of the “performance” below serves as Prime Video Sports’ new opening credits sequence for La Ligue games each weekend. The symphony will also also play on jumbo screens in stadiums, and discussions are underway to make it available to the masses via Amazon Music.

The goal was to create an iconic anthem that will live in the hearts and minds of fans, like those of the UEFA Champion’s League or the NFL. But the campaign is also about settling a “score” with other European football federations, which dismiss Ligue 1 as the “Farmers League” for being too provincial.

Marcel CCO Gaëtan du Peloux and CD Jérémie Bottiau guided Muse took Muse through the process of creating original music based on coaches’ gestures.

MUSE: What was your exact mandate from Prime?

Jérémie Bottiau: We had to celebrate French soccer and do it while staying true to the values and ambitions of Prime Video Sports. Moreover, we made it our mission to settle an old feud with other European leagues: to stop considering the French Ligue 1 as the ‘Farmer’s League.’ To do this, we had to come up with something unique, vibrant and grandiose.

So, you chose to make an innovative piece of entertainment?

Gaëtan du Peloux: We wanted to surprise people. To shift mind about the relationship between Prime Video and football. Because French hardcore fans still believe that Amazon is not legitimate enough—not expert enough—to be the official broadcaster of French football.

Can you describe the inspiration and the process?

Gaëtan du Peloux: One of our copywriters had a passion for ‘bench-cams’—cameras that isolate the sidelines of the football pitch and showcase the coaches and their tactical instructions. When they showed us these images, they explained their idea of creating an anthem, but substituting an orchestra conductor with Ligue 1 coaches. Instead of writing music which is then played by an orchestra and a conductor, we’d start by selecting iconic gestures of coaches, and these gestures would inform the musical score.

What was the best part of creating the symphony?

Jérémie Bottiau: Every step was exciting. That included: getting footage of the coaches during a championship match, identifying a composer who would dare to take on the challenge of writing a piece of music based on the coaches’ movements, arranging the composition over and over again so that it would reach the epic dimension we wanted, and convincing an orchestra of 70 musicians and a choir to be directed by football coaches. And to do it in a setting worthy of the project’s ambition: the auditorium of the Espace Niemeyer in Paris.

Why was Saycet was the best music partner for this effort?

Jérémie Bottiau: He was crazy enough to say yes!. But mostly because he is both a talented composer who is used to innovative and ambitious projects. And also because he is a real football fan, and French football in particular.

It looks like you are attracting non-football fans, too.

Jérémie Bottiau: Even people who were not particularly football fans were totally excited by the project and the image it gives Ligue 1. Music really brings people together. We received many truly enthusiastic comments.

Any plans for an encore?

Gaëtan du Peloux: For us, appropriation is the best plan for an encore. Fans already made their own ‘interpretation’ of the anthem and shared it on social channels. We hope that fans will continue to do this and that this anthem will soon be part of French pop culture. We already have some other unexpected ideas in our minds to make a great 2024 follow-up.

All the big tourist sites of Paris bear a natural fruit of demand: Because they attract so much tourism, street sellers sell statues and keychains of the buildings right outside. So Marcel created its own statues of the Pompidou Center, sold them across existing kiosks and stores, and deployed its own crew of bilingual, art-savvy, super-friendly street merchants across existing city hot-spots. 

It’s classic guerrilla, on-site mind hacking. 

Reinforcing that, and in addition to schooling them on the merits of Kandinsky and Chagall, street dealers even told people that Pompidou was part of what they called the “Big Five” collectible must-sees of Paris—the Sacré Coeur, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower being the other four. (The Louvre is notably missing. Checkmate.)

We assume people usually buy souvenirs of stuff they’ve seen already. Marcel’s betting that that very occasion is the perfect place to sell them not only another keepsake but an unplanned experience, and they’ve tried to make that adventure as easy as possible: The blitz included free shuttles and, when you turn the statuette upside down, a QR code that steers you to the Pompidou Center, no matter where you are in the city. 

While it isn’t clear yet what results this has wrought, it would be easy to gauge just by seeing whether or not the culture absorbs this Trojan horse without a ripple: This time next year, how long will the lines be for the museum? And once Marcel’s moved on to something new, will souvenir stores and street dealers still be selling Pompidou statues? 

That level of artistic manipulation is worth watching develop.

CREDITS

Agency: Marcel (groupe Publicis)
CEOs: Pascal Nessim / Charles Georges-Picot
CCO: Anne de Maupeou
Creative Directors: Youri Guerassimov / Gaëtan du Peloux
Copywriter: Antonin Jacquot
Art Director: Clément Sechet / Aurélie Halbmeyer
Motion: Arnaud Raquin
Partner: Blandine Mercier
Account Manager: Noëlla Neffati
Project Managers: Claire Sioufi / Jeanne Philippe
CSO & Managing Partner: Nicolas Levy
Social Media Manager: Julien Petit / Romain Jouffriault
RP: Leila Touiti-Rose / Catherine Helfenstein

Production Company: Artisans du Film
Director: Guillaume Talvas
Producer: Valéry du Peloux
DOP: Nils Runiet / Niels Benoist
Camera: Pierre Bernier / Frédéric Ouziel
Sound: Valentin Verrier
First Assistant Director: Nadia Moussa
Production Coordinator: Laura Fague Martin
Camera Assistant: Maxime Maujan
Editing: Guillaume Talvas
Editing Assistant: Cécile Valente
Post-Production Supervisor: Thibaud Colignon
Sound Mixer: Charli Masson
Colorist: Johan Tür

Post-Production: ADF L’atelier
Music: David Makima
Print Production Company: Prodigious
Producer: Suzanne Pereira Dias / Nathalie Turmel
Model Maker: Mathieu Andrieu
Photographer: Aurélie Halbmeyer
Retoucher: David Verduci

Média: Blue 449
CEO: Pascal Crifo
Head of Digital trading: Julie Emberger
Social Media Strategist: Théo Ravel de Fereirolles
Head of Brand Activation: Fouad Hachani
Endorsement & KOL: Carmelle Basset-Chercot

MSL
CEO Publicis Consultants: Clément Leonarduzzi

Centre Pompidou
Director of Communications and Public Relations: Benoit Parayre
Director of Audience engagement and Education: Catherine Guillou
Assistant Director of Communications and Public Relations: Marc-Antoine Chaumien
Chief of Audience Engagement: Cécile Venot
Head of digital: Paul Mourey
Chief Press Officer: Elodie Vincent
Assistant Chief of Audience Engagement: Aurélie Jourde
Video Production Manager: Isabelle Danto
Social Media Manager: Chloé Tournès
Executive Assistant: Catherine Legoux