Pub Culture

Club Med has always advertised to promote its unique vacation concept. Early advertisements appeared in the form of brochures, ads in the Paris metro, and a few inserts in the sports daily L'Équipe. One- or two-page ads with return coupons were also placed in periodicals like Paris Match. Print media, radio, and television—the Club has used all media over time to promote its "new vacation" formula.

1950-1976: The Age of Advertising

The first advertisement (or rather, publicity stunt, as they were called at the time) in the history of Club Med appeared in the newspaper L'Équipe and its Antwerp equivalent. A few small posters advertised this new holiday concept. Maurice Blitz's car, with a large sign mounted on the roof that read "Holidays in the Balearic Islands with Club Med for 2600 francs all inclusive," drove through the streets of Antwerp.

Articles, still in L'Équipe, took over, publishing features (advertorials weren't yet in use). In the Tridents magazine of the time, the cartoonist Siné lent his pen and created small drawings to promote the Club in his own style. A few posters designed by renowned illustrators, and advertisements incorporating reply coupons, appeared regularly in periodicals like Paris Match and VSD. A few radio reports and television programs rounded out the advertising for Club Méditerranée.

It was really from the mid-1970s onwards that Club Med's advertising campaigns took a different turn and made a lasting impression. The type of media used expanded to include television and radio, and the choice of advertising slogans became more impactful.

The media revolution and catchy slogans

The first of these appeared in 1976 in the form of verbs in the infinitive: "Eat, Contemplate, Dream, Breathe, Sleep, Laugh, Cry, Speak, Love." This campaign was created by the Synergie agency (Havas group). Today, it is truly the most successful advertising campaign for Club Med of all time. It is now studied as an example in business schools.

Two years later, the same agency produced a commercial aimed at families, playing on the conflict between generations. The slogan used was "Club Med, live as you want".

It would be 12 years before we saw truly memorable commercials again. In 1985, Club Med entrusted its advertising budget to RSCG, and a powerful tagline hit the mark: "The Club, the most beautiful idea since the invention of happiness." Some of the commercials in this campaign were directed by Jean-Paul Goude. "Happiness if I want it" followed in 1989 with commercials directed by Patrice Leconte.

The next three campaigns came at a time when Club Med was going through a difficult period. "We've never needed Club Med so much," created in 1992 by the Publicis agency, was followed by "Club Med: The Crazy Life" the following year. This latter campaign featured excerpts from Jacques Tati's film Monsieur Hulot's Holiday.
In 1996, the Devarrieux Villaret agency (Havas Group) was commissioned and launched the "What are you waiting for to go to Club Med" campaign.

In 1998, following a change in policy and strategy, the Publicis Conseil agency was once again called upon. The first commercials used the word "Re": Etre-Re, Re-Creation, Re-Miam, Re-Plouf, etc. This campaign would be the only one of the Bourguignon era.

From 2003 (arrival of HGE), advertising campaigns will follow one another every 2 to 3 years and will focus on the Club's move upmarket.

2003: “Incomparable Club Med”

2005: "There are still so many people to discover" says the Faces campaign where we see faces blended into landscapes (mountain, sea, countryside) on posters and spots.

2008: "All the happiness in the world" with figures of children or adults crowned with hats or headbands on which a landscape is depicted.

2013: "And you, how do you imagine happiness?" This campaign (Saatchi & Saatchi agency) again uses the word "Happiness" in its text. This word seems to have once again become the leitmotif used by Club Med in its slogans, as it was during the 1980s, but the image presented has changed. Gone are the faces, replaced by an image depicting a Zen landscape. A preparation for the Chinese horizons and the Fosun era, without a doubt!

2014: Launch of a TV commercial called "The Ballet." This advertisement, produced by the agency Saatchi & Saatchi + Duke and directed by Xavier Giannoli, shows a classical ballet from the Paris Opera ending with a series of chassé steps into a swimming pool to the tune of "Darla Dirladada." Thierry Lhermitte, seated as a spectator, adds a final touch by saying, "That's funny, that's not at all how I remembered it." The new tagline, "Rediscover happiness," is used.

2015: Online, mini-clips conceived by the agency "BETC Content" and produced by the Blacktool team, filmed in Mauritius (Albion Plantation and Pointe aux Canonniers) on the theme of Letting Go. This campaign is aimed at vacationers who, on the first day of their holiday, haven't yet let go of their daily routine: sleeping in late, the subway, mobile phone addiction, the office.