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BETC is a French advertising agency founded in Paris in 1995. The name of the company stands for Babinet, Erra and Tong Cuong, the founding members. The agency notably designed campaigns for clients such as Air France, Evian, Lacoste and Canal+, and was voted as the most creative agency for eight consecutive years


History

Rémi Babinet Rémi Babinet (born 1957 in Paris, France) is a French creative director, best known for his work on Evian's "Live Young" campaign. His official title is Founding Chairman of BETC and Global Chief Creative Officer of Havas. He is also the author ...
and Eric Tong Cuong founded the agency Babinet Tong Cuong in 1994. It is part of the Havas Worldwide group of companies (formerly Euro RSCG Worldwide). In 1995, they were joined by
Mercedes Erra Mercedes Erra is a French business woman who was born 23 September 1954 in Sabadell. She is the Executive President of Havas Worldwide (formerly Euro RSCG Worldwide), Co-Founder of BETC, and Managing Director of Havas. Mercedes Erra is an exp ...
and the agency was renamed Babinet Erra Tong Cuong Euro RSCG. In 2002, Eric Tong Cuong left the company. In July 2005, Babinet and Erra were appointed managing directors of Havas in addition to their responsibilities manning BETC. In 2007, Stéphane Xiberras, who joined BETC as creative director in 1999, was asked to join them as BETC's president and Chief Creative Officer. BETC is made up of roughly 900 people, most of which work out of its headquarters, an industrial building that formerly housed an "Aux Classes Laborieuses" department store on the Faubourg Saint Martin in Paris. The agency manages over 70 clients, of which 70% are global, including
Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
,
Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
,
Evian Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year. Today, Evia ...
, Canal+,
Lacoste Lacoste S.A. is a French company, founded in 1933 by tennis player René Lacoste, and entrepreneur Mangkha. It sells clothing, footwear, sportswear, eyewear, leather goods, perfume, towels and watches. The company can be recognised by its gree ...
, L'Oreal, Petit Bateau,
Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disneyland Park is the origin ...
,
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
, and Mondelez, formerly Kraft Foods. In November 2012, BETC was appointed global communications agency for luxury brand
Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...
. BETC is divided into numerous branches, including luxury-focused BETC Luxe, brand identity firm BETC Design, sound department BETC Pop, BETC Digital, launched in 2010; retail-focused BETC Shopper, launched in 2007; BETC Start Up Lab, founded in 2011; and BETC Content, launched in 2011. Notably, in May 2011 parent company Havas supported plans to spin BETC into a global network, beginning in London, then expanding to Brazil, the United States, and Asia. BETC London launched in June 2011, led by Matthew Charlton, former CEO of Modernista, and Creative Director Neil Dawson. Its clients include
Bacardi Bacardi Limited (; ) is one of the largest privately held, family-owned spirits companies in the world. Originally known for its Bacardi brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 an ...
,
Cow & Gate Cow & Gate was a United Kingdom based dairy products company, which expanded into milk bottling, distribution, and baby food production. It merged in 1959 with United Dairies to form Unigate plc, which today is known as Uniq plc. The Cow & Gate br ...
,
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
,
Ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
and
Diet Coke Diet Coke (also branded as Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Diet or Coca-Cola Light Taste) is a sugar-free and low-calorie soft drink produced and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. It contains artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. Unveiled on ...
. In January 2014, Charlton and Dawson left BETC London and CEO Andrew Stirk (formerly Executive Planning Director at the agency) and Executive Creative Director Rosie Bardales (previously Creative Director at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam) took over the management leadership of the agency. In February 2014, BETC launched BETC São Paulo with the tandem Erh Ray and Gal Barradas as co-CEOs. BETC plans to open other offices in the coming 18 months, in particular in the US where potential locations include Austin, TX; Chicago; Miami; Portland; and New York. In July 2016 BETC moved to Les Magasins généraux in Pantin, a building dedicated to creation and innovation. BETC and in particular Rémi Babinet will take a major role in the rehabilitation of the city with a great involvement in cultural and social activities for the inhabitants of its new Greater Paris area. In May 2016, Forbes Magazine selected Rémi Babinet as one of the world's 10 Best Creative Directors.


Campaigns of note

"The Bear", a commercial for French premium network Canal+, was recognised in 2013 as the world's most-awarded TV spot in the history of the
Gunn Report ''The Gunn Report and Showreel of the Year'', authored by Donald Gunn and Emma Wilkie, is an annual publication identifying and detailing the most awarded new work within the advertising industry. The first Report was published in 1999, and has si ...
, an award publication detailing the most successful print and television advertising campaigns. Also in 2013, the campaign 'Baby and me' for Evian was ranked the most viewed on-line campaign in the world.


Air France

BETC won the Air France global account in 1998. Signature work includes the 1999 launch campaign 'Flight', shot by Michel Gondry and accompanied by music from the indie group the Chemical Brothers. In 2011, it launched a new ad directed and choreographed by
Angelin Preljocaj Angelin Preljocaj (; born 19 January 1957) is a French dancer and choreographer of contemporary dance. Early life Angelin Preljocaj was born in 1957 in Sucy-en-Brie, France. He is of Albanian descent. Career His choreographic work is steeped ...
, featuring dancer
Benjamin Millepied Benjamin Millepied (; born 10 June 1977) is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has also ...
and accompanied by a Mozart concerto, interpreted by orchestra
Les Siècles Les Siècles is a French symphony orchestra founded in 2003 by François-Xavier Roth, with ambition to put works from the 17th to 21st centuries into today's perspective. The musicians of the orchestra play each repertoire on the historical instrum ...
alongside pianist
Vanessa Wagner Vanessa Wagner (born 11 June 1973, in Rennes) is a French classical pianist. Biography She studied in the class of Dominique Merlet at the Conservatoire de Paris. At 17, she won the first prize, and went on to study with Jean-François Heisser ...
and conductor
François-Xavier Roth François-Xavier Paul Roth (born 6 November 1971) is a French conductor, who founded Les Siècles, an orchestra which performs on instruments appropriate to the period of composition of each piece, from the late Baroque and Classical eras to 20t ...
. The creative director on all Air France campaigns is Rémi Babinet.


Canal+

In 2011, for pay network Canal+, BETC launched "The Bear", a humorous ad that follows a bearskin rug that is cast as a renowned movie director. Led by creative director Stéphane Xiberras, the ad won one Silver and three Gold Lions, including Film Craft, at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in 2012. In February 2013, the Gunn Report ranked "The Bear" as the most-awarded spot in its history.


Evian

Led by creative director Rémi Babinet, the agency's work for the water brand includes 1998's ''Waterbabies'' TV campaign and 2009's ''Rollerbabies'', which was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most viewed online ad at the time, generating 45,166,109 views as of 9 November 2009. In April 2013, BETC launched a new global campaign for Evian, entitled ''Baby and me'' and featuring a remix by French DJ Yuksek of the 1990s hit "Here Comes the Hotstepper", by Ini Kamoze.


Awards

* 2012: Film Craft Grand Prix Lion for Canal+ "The Bear" * 2012: Agency of the Year, New York Art Directors' Club * 2019: International Agency of the Year, Adweek * 2020: Film Grand Prix Lion for Lacoste "Crocodile Inside"


References


External links


English website
{{Authority control Advertising agencies of France Havas