By teaming up with Maxi and Martin Matte in the grocery chain’s latest ad, Koriass has just joined a growing list of Quebec rappers who advertise for big brands or the government.
FouKi and Patrick Norman for Couche-Tard, Loud and Ginette Reno for Uber Eats, Alaclair Ensemble and the City of Laval for the “Put respect in your bin” ads, and the Quebec government’s “All against one” campaign with Loud , Sarahmée, Naya Ali and Zach Zoya allied against COVID-19: the artists of the hip-hop scene are becoming the darlings of advertisers.
Why rappers? To reach young people.
“The banners are doomed to constantly having to rejuvenate their image,” says Luc Dupont, professor in the communications department at the University of Ottawa.
“For food banners, over time, the audience has necessarily aged. The use of stars has always worked well in the past. In Quebec even more than elsewhere. It’s proven to be effective.”
Record statistics
Since its launch on Sunday evening, Koriass and Martin Matte’s rap, which boasts of the freshness of Maxi’s products, has been a hit. On Maxi’s Facebook page on Monday afternoon, the 1:40 minute video had garnered 11,000 likes.
According to creative agency LG2, which has been designing Maxi’s ads since 2016, these are the best stats in the banner’s history.
The presence of a young Quebec star whose music appeals to young people would be one of the reasons for the success of the ad, says Guillaume Bergeron, associate designer-editor at LG2.
“There is something beautiful about bringing two generations together in an advertisement. My mother will find it funny and the young ones too. We reach a wider audience.”
Good old rap
The idea of calling on the rapper Koriass came naturally to the designer and his team. They wanted someone who does “good ol’ classic rap that includes word attacks and spoken lyrics that speak directly to the camera.”
The “battles” clips shot by Koriass with comedian Arnaud Soly, during the pandemic, had particularly charmed them.
In March 2022, Maxi had teamed up with singer Charlotte Cardin to produce two humorous advertisements which had also worked well, again with their spokesperson Martin Matte.
“Associating with stars is good, but it has to be done well, adds Guillaume Bergeron. It is necessary to create an association with personalities that people like and who do not arouse conflicting feelings. It then becomes profitable for everyone: the brand and the artist.”
The long version of the ad with Koriass and Martin Matte can be found on Maxi’s Facebook page. On TV, the ad will be split into two parts of 30 seconds each.