Although Nescafé is currently considering running the 'Face to Friends' campaign as a Tv program in other countries, the campaign has only been run in France so far.

As Brand Content regulations are very strict in France (for instance, AFP is strictly forbidden), the core of the campaign has been only aired online. This brought our campaign to a higher level, creating deep interactions with Nescafé’s audience, many of them posting their own encounters on the brand’s social networks.

To launch the campaign, Arnaud surprised bloggers he had previously friended on Facebook. Thanks to this trick, within a few days, a lot of people talked about the project on social networks, our first online videos reaching 500 000 views in a week. Then we launched Tv and internet ads, reaching a much broader audience.

To involve our fans, we gave them the opportunity to choose on Nescafe’s Facebook page the next video they wanted to be uploaded on the operation’s website.

Arnaud’s web documentary (42 videos) became a real social phenomenon in France. Soon, fans started to upload their own videos. We thought they should be part of the experience. So we encouraged them with Nescafé mugs and sticks and Arnaud even surprised the most active fans. This way, we created very deep interactions between the brand and its fans. This part of the campaign is still going on.

One week after it went online, our videos had already reached approximately 500,000 views. Since then, the success has never stopped.

. Our dedicated website shows amazing statistics: More than 8 million views, an average time of 11 minutes spent online with 18% viewing all the 42 videos (more than 2 hours of content).

. The brand’s Facebook page gained +400% of fans since the operation started.

. By launching a universal and modern topic of conversation, Nescafé ignited a huge social phenomenon in France (many references on social media and many spoofs even by the most popular comic show in France: 'Les Guignols de l’Info' on Canal+).

. But most of all, people grew the will to meet their own Facebook friends. Many fans published their own encounters on Nescafé’s Facebook page. And as we gave them mugs and sticks, they became a part of the campaign, some of them being even surprised by Arnaud. This level of interaction could never have been achieved with the traditional TV campaigns Nescafé was used to air in France.