An air of déjà vu? COVID-19 – its variant Omicron, above all, and the health measures linked to its spread – once again risks bringing together 5 million Quebecers in front of their flat screens during ICI Radio-Canada’s end-of-year special . Last year, we counted 4.5 million viewers during the original broadcast of Bye bye 2020 and 882,000 when the 1er January.
“There is no doubt that the audience will be even higher this year”, launches Karine Courtemanche, CEO of the media placement firms Touché! and PHD Canada.
The advertising price is substantial: the broadcasting of a 30-second message is estimated at $ 50,000 this year. “Radio-Canada relies on audiences from the previous year to set prices, and 2020 was a record year because of COVID-19,” explains Karine Courtemanche. But the pandemic situation being brighter when calculating the rate, Radio-Canada had forecast a 5% drop in audience compared to 2020. ”
Competition return
For a fourth year, the competition “The Bye advertising ”thus returns in a context where we anticipate a still very high number of eyes riveted both on the program and on the ads. Once again, advertisers and their advertising agency were invited to produce original messages for the end of year high mass. Viewers will be able to vote for their favorite. The winning advertisers will receive the equivalent of $ 75,000, $ 50,000 and $ 25,000 in media campaigns on Radio-Canada. “Year after year, advertisers’ interest grows,” says Patricia Châteauneuf, General Manager of Multiplatform Media Sales at Radio-Canada.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RADIO-CANADA.
Patricia Châteauneuf, General Manager, Multiplatform Media Sales, Radio-Canada
That of viewers also: from 20,000 votes in 2018, we went to 47,000 in 2020. “We could exceed 50,000 votes this year,” believes Mr.me Châteauneuf.
Of the approximately 25 advertisers who reserved their advertising space on December 31, as of 11 p.m., 18 are offering original creations this year. “We’ve never had so many,” says the general manager. It was around ten in 2020. We really feel a craze for the design of specific creations. ”
L’Érable du Québec is one of the advertisers. For the past few weeks, on TV, spokesperson Claude Legault has been eating sandwich bread and fruit cake. It will appear in another ad this Friday, however, designed by Rethink. “This presence sends a strong signal from the brand,” said Xavier Blais, creative director of the advertising agency. “It says that it is appreciated by Quebecers, especially when the creation is well done. ”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RETHINK
Xavier Blais, Creative Director of Rethink
Another client of the agency expressed interest in the fall to be seen during the Bye. “But it was too late,” explains Mr. Blais. It is decided in the summer. Advertising space is going up pretty quickly. ”
Radio-Canada indicates that the spaces have all been sold since mid-October. “There is no other opportunity in North America to reach such a high percentage of the population,” notes Karine Courtemanche. In the old days there was the show The little life to do it. From a media point of view, it’s interesting. And that’s good for advertisers because people are actively following the Bye. ”
“For those who can afford it, there is pride in being present,” judge Alexis Caron-Côté, associate creative director of the Taxi agency. “There is a strong creative value. the Bye is one of the last very unifying television events. ”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY TAXI
Alexis Caron-Côté, Associate Creative Director of Taxi
Taxi has designed an original message for Volkswagen Canada this year. It will feature the brand’s new spokesperson, actor Pier-Luc Funk. “It will be an entertaining message,” explains Mr. Caron-Côté, without being able to reveal more. “We will respect the fact that people want to be entertained. That’s what matters to me. Those who stand out are those who stick to the codes of the show. ”
This Friday evening, viewers will also see messages from the Producteurs de lait du Québec (milk and cheese), Mondou and Metro, in particular. “The Radio-Canada competition created legitimacy in relation to what we had been trying to do for years,” continues Alexis Caron-Côté. As it is an expected appointment, for a long time, the agencies pushed for specific creations. Now the advertisers are getting on board. ”
Not enough messages
The contest was developed in collaboration with the advertising agency Sid Lee, inspired by the Super Bowl in the United States, for which advertisers design, in the majority of cases, original messages. Since the first edition of the Radio-Canada competition, the 10 public’s favorite commercials have been specifically designed for the Bye.
That said, Xavier Blais believes that there could be even more singular messages. “It remains rare, brands that make messages especially for the Bye, he emphasizes. It is not given to make an original advertisement. There are also national advertisers who broadcast once, but do not respect the medium. It has to be funny, in the spirit of the evening. ”
“It took several years before all the advertisements broadcast at the Super Bowl were personalized,” explains Patricia Châteauneuf.
And it is still necessary that it is in the mission of the mark to arrive with such a proposal. “An advertiser like Volkswagen has two advertising budgets: for its brand and its promotional offers,” says Karine Courtemanche. Many advertisers only make offers. the Bye is not justified for them. Nobody on 1er January is not going to get up to go shopping. It eliminates a lot of brands. ”