Driving PR / When it comes to driving schools, people tend to go for the cheapest offer. The idea for CER was to reduce price sensitivity and recruit prospective students by building affinity for what the brand stands for. Speaking to Contagious, Benjamin Le Breton, creative director at BETC Paris explained the business challenge: ‘The CER driving schools operate in a market where the difference lies in who can offer the cheapest training. In a context of inflation, with rising fuel and electricity prices, the goal was to create value and brand preference beyond the price of driving lessons.’
CER achieved this by communicating the brand’s mission in action – to help people get around – and demonstrates its spirit of solidarity by doing literally that, making it stand out in a sector where brand building efforts are scarce. Really leaning into its brand purpose allowed CER to deliver impeccable brand-building work that’s distinctly PR-able. ‘By changing people’s perception of the brand and adding a sense of solidarity to these driving courses, we managed to build a “feel-good marketing story”. It seems to me that this is partly what contributed to the free media coverage and commercial success of the operation,’ said Le Breton.
Kill two birds with one stone / Transforming its driving lessons into a carpool service isn’t just good for the community, it’s helpful for the planet. Le Breton explained to us the importance of this double positioning, mid-way between solidarity and sustainability, to connect with its young target: ‘We wanted to reconnect younger generations with the older ones by creating a mobility solution: one that is both solidarity-based and free. At the same time, we wanted to find a way to reduce the ecological impact of driving lessons.’
According to a 2022 article by the World Economic Forum, Gen Zers prefer to buy from sustainable brands. With this campaign, CER aligns itself with what its audience cares deeply about – alleviating some of the guilt they might have about the environmental costs associated with taking driving lessons by doubling them up as a driving service for those in need.
