This is a big creative idea born out of one small data point:

Before 1991, the number of UK girls named Nicole was so low it wasn’t recorded. But when Renault’s Papa & Nicole campaign began in '91, the name Nicole suddenly appeared in the nation's top 50 baby names - staying there for a decade.

On Father's Day 2022, to mark the launch of the first of a new generation of Renault EVs, we decided to meet these 90s Nicoles and their Papas. Taking a glimpse at their stories, and at how father-daughter relationships have changed since the original

In the 90s, the UK loved Renault. The original Clio hit the market as a stylish, fun way to travel that really resonated with a generation of young women finding their independence.

So much so, that the Clio increased in sales for 7 straight years. But now, just 2.1% of potential buyers would make Renault their first choice.

Awareness was still high, but we needed to reignite that lost brand love - not just with the generation who remembered Renault fondly from their youth, but with a new generation of car buyers.

By analysing the Office for National Statistics baby name records, we discovered a near perfect correlation between the appearance of the original Nicole on screen between 1991 and 1998, and her name not only appearing for the first time in the UK's baby names - but rapidly becoming one of the most popular. It stayed within the top 50 for the rest of the campaign, only dropping back out once the campaign finished.

From the ONS records, we can estimate that up to 12,000 new Nicoles were born during the campaign period. 12,000 Nicoles who, by 2022, would be into their twenties.

We decided to find some of these Nicoles and tell their stories, creating a new chapter in the campaign- Papa, Nicole: The Story Lives On. A moving portrait of modern fatherhood and female independence, told through the eyes of three real-life Nicoles, each a namesake of the original.

We needed to reach two audiences:

1. 40-somethings with the budget to buy a Megane and a driveway to park it in. TGI data told us they were more likely to be male, married, and have kids. So well-to-do dads were our sweet spot.

2. 20-30 year old women entering the car market. They couldn’t afford a Megane but were an audience the Renault brand needed for long-term survival.

TGI data told us these widely disparate generations had a few interests in common - but nothing that unlocked a big idea.

However, both had experienced the pandemic, an episode that triggered increased nostalgia across the nation (based on Google search data). And, according to YouGov's reporting, this nostalgia was rooted in a strong shared affection for the 90s - a decade both age groups adored. And Renault's heyday.

So we decided to revive a classic 90s Renault campaign.

Once we'd decided to revive Renault's record-breaking 90s campaign - Papa & Nicole - we needed a creative way-in.

A data point provided the spark.

We knew the Papa, Nicole campaign was incredibly popular in the '90s. So much so that a '96 survey found that more Brits recognised “Nicole” than the Prime Minister.

But we didn't know how deep that popularity went until an idle conversation about baby names by two expecting fathers in the team. That conversation prompted us to take a look at the ONS' baby name data. We found that the name "Nicole" - previously too unpopular to be recorded - entered the UK's top 40 favourite names for the first time in '94 and disappeared again in the early 2000s.

Clearly, its surge in popularity was driven by Renault's Papa, Nicole campaign.

This discovery sparked our idea: finding these nineties Nicoles and telling their tales.

Our data-driven idea delivered reach, engagement and impact.

Reach:

- Coverage in the Daily Mail (Britain's biggest daily), Telegraph and Guardian. 

- 137M impressions 

- 26M video views 

Engagement:

- Completed video views across digital platforms were 1.6M above target, thanks to a completion rate of nearly 50%

- Completion rates on social were even higher, exceeding benchmarks by 80%, and helping us beat every benchmark on Cost Per View we had

Brand:

- Renault achieved its highest Fame and Popularity in two years (YouGov)

- Brand Preference grew 53%, 4x category norm for this kind of activity

Business & Sales:

- Purchase consideration grew 52% over the course of the campaign

- Renault sold an extra 4,069 units year on year during the key campaign period (June-August), an increase of 32%

- Renault's UK market share increased from 2.8% to 4.4% year on year during the campaign period (June-August)

Father's Day had grown substantially in popularity through the pandemic (based on Google Search data), as people sought to reconnect with family during lockdown. As we emerged from the Covid era, we decided the first real-world Father's Day would be the perfect, meaningful launch moment for our father-daughter stories.