CIVILIZATION Shanghai skis into winter with Decathlon launching winter sports campaign
Decathlon China has launched its winter sports campaign with a brand film, ‘Papillon’ (‘butterfly’ in French), created by CIVILIZATION Shanghai.
Decathlon is one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the world. In China, it has more than 300 stores, the most outside of France. Since July 2021, CIVILIZATION Shanghai has been its leading agency in its fastest growing market.
“COVID has refocused the attention of Chinese families on health instead of merely material well-being,” says CIVILIZATION’s CEO Alex Xie. “Decathlon’s philosophy of ‘sports for the many’ and its product offering across more than 80 sports at accessible prices allows it to assist Chinese consumers strengthen up and brave through this time of crisis.”
With the borders closed, domestic tourism has experienced a boom as travellers seek out new experiences across the four seasons in the diverse landscapes of China, from surfing in the south to camping in the near-urban outdoors to skiing in the north. Especially in anticipation of the Winter Olympics 2022, there’s a surge of enthusiasm for snow sports among Chinese consumers.
“Decathlon believes the family unit should be where a love for sports is born,” Kat Tan, Creative Partner of CIVILIZATION adds, “so we shared with the brand team a winter story that we believe would touch any parent.”
“Following ‘love’, ‘independence’ is a child’s next life stage, and it’s one that many parents find the most challenging to gel with their natural protective instincts,” says Jing Xu, Executive Producer of CIVILIZATION. “‘Papillon’ is one such tale of a father learning to let go.”
The film and print executions were shot in Koktokay County in Altay Prefecture, a world-class skiing and snowboarding destination that’s a mecca for hardcore snow sports enthusiasts.
“Given that it’s only the start of the season, our team had to fly all the way to China’s extreme northwest to find sufficient powder”, Andrew Lok, co-founder of CIVILIZATION smiles. “In truth, I wrote this script for my son, who told me he wanted to see snow. So in some ways, it’s for an audience of one.”
“Papillon” has been released on China’s various video platforms, a multitude of TV stations and outdoor screens.
Credits
Client: Decathlon China
Agency: CIVILIZATION Shanghai
Creative Partner: Kat Tan
Creative Team: Fili Chung, Owen Peng, Rico Song, Scott Zhang, Bao Zi, Andrew Lok
Strategy Partner: Roger Wang
Strategy Team: Dorian Luo
Executive Producer: Jing Xu
Print Producer: Jason Ren
Account Team: Iris Yue, Avery Mao, Daisy Ding, Edie Zhang, Jael Fu
Production Company: Shanghai Kui You
Film Producer: Amber Yao
Director: Dai
Cinematographer: Kenny Du
Print Photographer: Ken Goh
