FAST TURNAROUND,
FRESH THINKING
Havas London, the flagship creative agency of Havas UK, is known for campaigns that are bold, playful, and genuinely fun. Exactly the kind of thing we love at WIT. But there’s no time to stop and smell the roses: they move fast. Really fast. And this project was no exception.
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The brief was clear: three VO scripts transcreated into French, alongside some cultural consultation to get a sense if the messaging would be up to snuff for the French market. And for an extra challenge, one script was being worked into an animation, which needed extra VO direction and a final quality check. With a 48-hour deadline, we put our noses to the grindstone.
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The final brief arrived late on a Friday evening, padded out with the Air Wick manifesto, tone of voice guidelines, and storyboard references. With the Tuesday close of play deadline in sight, WIT was ready to make sure the project came up smelling of roses.
ON THE SCENT
We put together our dream transcreation duo (one, the lead copywriter and the other, the reviser) to tackle Air Wick’s “Your Nose Knows” challenge. The process began with a detailed cultural questionnaire to map how the brand and its punny tagline would land in France. Would fading flowers symbolise fading fragrance? Would exaggerated nose visuals be too on the nose? The team made sure nothing smelt fishy, and the campaign happily passed the sniff test.
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From there, Havas received two distinct options for each French script, complete with back-translations and rationales explaining the transcreation choices. This gave them the freedom to explore different creative routes, choosing the version that made the biggest impact while staying true to Air Wick’s fresh tone. Once the scripts were approved, our lead copywriter joined the VO session with the Havas team, the VO artist, and the production studio. The final result perfectly captured the playful essence of the campaign. That’s the sweet smell of success.
I just wanted to say thank you for all the work on the Liquid Electrical transcreation, and for your attendance of the VO recording yesterday. We couldn’t have done it without Cedric on the line!
Irina Patrichi, Account Director
