*Project completed as part of coursework for educational purposes only.
Creative team:
Connor Clarke, Emily Farrugia, Frank Neufeld, Michelle Miller
The ask:
Refresh Grey Poupon’s brand to make affluent millennials crave its classic French expertise and quality.
The challenge:
The millennial generation lacks familiarity with the brand.
The facts:
The brand became a cultural icon in 1981 when their iconic ‘Pardon Me’ campaign established Grey Poupon as one of the finer things in life. It became a symbol for luxury, parodied in movies such as Wayne’s World and established a special place in hip hop culture, referenced in more than 100 songs by artists such as Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar.
The insight:
Grey Poupon has long been a shorthand for class and luxury but, for millennials, codes of affluence have changed. It is no longer solely defined by status, but instead by personal substance and accomplishment. It’s self-made tech tycoons, respected artists and top athletes. Really, anyone who’s shown to excel at their craft and achieve their goals, whatever that might manifest as.
The solution:
Grey Poupon is the official gatekeeper of excellence – marked by the ‘stain of approval.’ The idea flips the embarrassing notion of a condiment stain on its head and positions a ‘Grey Poupon stain’ as a mark of excellence. It brings together an eclectic and unexpectedly diverse cast of people together into a secret fellowship.