In 2018 and 2019, Häagen-Dazs created "Un Dimanche au Cinéma" - an open-air screening on the world's most beautiful avenue: the Champs-Élysées. The brand's movie event saga was born and became an official rendez-vous between Parisians and Häagen-Dazs.

Those two editions gathered more than 3000 participants together on the avenue, with each year more press coverage.

In 2020, the brief was quite simple: organize the next eagerly awaited edition of this famous saga. But as the world is coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, going back on the Champs-Élysées - with that many people gathered- is just not an option.

So how to bypass the multiple constraints brought along with the COVID-19 and still manage to offer a unique movie experience to Parisians? How to organize an open-air screening in a time when social distanciation and safety measures prevail?

For its 2020 edition, Häagen-Dazs came up with Le Cinéma sur l'Eau (cinema on water), a reinterpretation of the drive-in experience by adding water. The very first floating cinema where the movie is watched from a boat!

A smart way of playing with the sanitary context while offering a movie experience to people while staying safe.

No more cars, make way for boats!

On July 18, 2020, it's a very unique screening experience that was organized on the Bassin de la Villette: the Seine was turned into a a floating cinema, traditional red seats were replaced by boats and ice-creams were offered instead of pop-corns.

Once cosily seated in the boats, groups between four and six people - friends or family in order to uphold social-distancing rules - were about to live an unprecedented screening of Le Grand Bain in front of a 150m2 giant screen.

This concept was meant to reach all types of consumers and with that in mind, it took the shape of a friendly, free, drawable event.

To communicate around Le Cinéma sur l'Eau, several means have been put in place. Upstream, sending of a press release, communication on the brand's social networks and partnership with mk2 - production company - (printed, digital and display), My Little Paris and 20 Minutes - French media.

The communication was so xxx that about 70 000 people tried their luck with the random drawing - for a total of 38 boats (from 4 to 6 people).

On July 18, on the day of the event, media were invited to get on a boat to dive into the setup, record footages and interview participants. Influencers talked about the experience on their social media and real-time images were posted on the brand's social networks.

After a 2-month daily work, on July 17, 2020, the set up started and lasted until the next day, on the event day.

On July 18, 2020 at 6pm, it all began. The first participants arrived - their time of arrival being spaced out for the sanitary measures to be respected - got on their boats after having heard the security brief and sailed away.

Once the 38 boats were filled, a team moored the entire fleet for viewers to enjoy the movie in peace. An ice-cream boat distributed cool boxes for people to savor one of the famous Häagen-Dazs products while watching the movie.

At 8pm, the programme started, and after some advertisings, Le Grand Bain was broadcasted. With this movie, the brand's claim 'Don't Hold Back' took on its full meaning: give meaning to one's life, following one's dreams and break codes.

By offering customers the opportunity of reliving a normal and sharable movie moment and a live experience after a 3-month lockdown, Häagen-Dazs managed to position itself in its customers hearts as the movie partner.

Some key figures proving this fact

- 1 400 177 000 global impressions

- More than 500 press coverage in over 20 countries (Russia, Japan, US...)

- Häagen-Dazs achieved the largest market share gains in the category over the April-September 2020 season (total market) at +1.6 market share points