Global drinks company Pernod Ricard recently rolled out a new corporate campaign that encourages people to act kinder and socialize more. In an age when nearly everyone is focused on digital screens almost everywhere they go, Pernod Ricard has challenged people instead to interact and “Be A Convivialist!”
The campaign follows a global survey conducted by Opinion Way for Pernod Ricard that “confirmed conviviality is on the decline around the world,” the company says. “Nearly 60% consider their country to be less friendly than five years ago, and 61% consider the world to be less friendly than five years ago.”
The French at 82%, followed by Germans at 73%, were the most pessimistic about the state of conviviality today. And 67% of Millenials (18-34 years) admit they regret meeting their friends less and less in real life, the company says, due to the convenience of connecting via technology and social networks.
Among American respondents, the survey found:
- 86% of Americans believe convivial moments are moments of happiness
- However, Americans feel less convivial than the global average – 70% U.S. vs. 78% worldwide
- 52% believe their relationships are becoming more superficial due to social media
- And 80% admit to staying home and streaming a video rather than going out to meet with friends and family
Pernod Ricard has made “creators of conviviality” its vision and signature. The results of the survey – conducted in 11 countries and on five continents with nearly 11,500 respondents – form the basis of the group’s new 360-degrees corporate campaign, “Be a Convivialist!”
The campaign is designed to encourage consumers to reverse the negative trends revealed in the survey by exercising more conviviality in their every-day lives. As the campaign’s centerpiece, Pernod Ricard unveiled the documentary “The Power of Convivialité,” directed by Elephant At Work. It collates the testimonies of people from around the world, asking them what conviviality means to them.
Pernod Ricard also created a dedicated platform, theconvivialists.com, for anyone who wants to become a convivialist; that is, people who excel at being friendly, meeting new people and sharing genuine moments of connection.
To promote and disseminate contents from the campaign, Pernod Ricard partnered with Vice. “The Power of Convivialité” documentary will be promoted on several of the platform’s social networks, especially in the U.S. With Vice’s help, Pernod Ricard has also developed a series of reports from around the world by reporter Laurence Cornet and photographer Stéphane Lavoué, a portraitist whose work has been seen in the New York Times, The Times in the UK, Le Figaro and Le Monde.
“Filmed over several months, the journey takes the reader to a small island in Ireland to discover the secrets of a legendary pub, meets a community of surfers lost between the Pacific and the Amazon in Colombia, on to Cuba, where friendliness is a true religion, to a strange kingdom in Italy, and to China among a community of women living on the steps of the Himalayas,” the company says.
