The COVID-19 pandemic has forced brands and agencies to adapt their organisational and communications strategies. Such is the case for Free, who, during the lockdown, launched the TV campaign “Neighbors”.

As a telecommunications brand that helps to connect people and brings them closer together, Free decided to turn a key communications opportunity, initially planned as a marketing campaign, into a corporate message, encouraging the French to stay at home, by pointing out what can be gained from lockdown with the help of the Free network and the services it provides.

It took Herezie two days to come up with a creative response to the challenge and the 4 films were produced over the period of a week. A campaign about the lockdown carried out by citizens living in lockdown.

The campaign, made up of four films and directly inspired by current events, is a literal zoom into four French cities: Caen, Bordeaux, Marseille and Paris. Each film contains a series of dialogues between neighbours, all taking place from their respective windows or balconies.

No promotional messages or terms & conditions. Instead, the campaign emphasizes the lockdown message and the way Free enables people to connect with each other during this period. The well-known tagline was also adapted for the occasion: “Free. they stay home, they stay smart.” (Ils restent chez eux, ils ont tout compris)