Shift from long to short cycle: “Plus belle la vie” under the transmedia microscope
Par Amaury Boulanger • 20 Aug, 2009 • Catégorie: Marketing and Economy
I attended a fascinating conference in June organized by Laurence CORROY, assistant professor of information and communication studies at the “New Sorbonne” (University of Paris III). Here are a few keys to understanding the success of the French TV series “Plus belle la vie”.
“Plus belle la vie”, a series launched in late 2004 on France 3 [second-biggest public TV channel in France], draws a record 6 million viewers every evening. It also has record longevity and media hype, and FR3 makes a quarter of its annual advertising revenue on the series (at least it did before commercials were banned on public TV). The series is a huge hit with 25-year-olds and, paradoxically, senior citizens; 12–18-year-olds form the core target, though the show was not initially conceived for teenagers!
Short cycle => topicality
What sets “Plus belle la vie” apart is its short production cycle and its team of writers. The team is made up of a score of writers highly reactive to the latest buzz, e.g. they worked Obama’s election into the script within three days of the polling. They operate “just in time”, with writing/production on location in Marseille.
The series is based on 3 // plots: situation comedy in every episode, tragi-comedy for a fortnight, detective story for 3 months. Viewer interest is maintained by interweaving several strands and thanks to the character development potential of the group members.
Proximity = fictional telereality
The script uses a great deal of slang, which is understood by all the teenagers. There’s very little action, everything’s based on characters “gossiping” in public places about their – and our – everyday issues: this is not the highbrow stuff of “JT”, which is broadcast at the same hour!!!
If we analyze the show’s success, it is the logical development of telereality programmes that become trivialized: e.g. “Loft story”, likewise revolving around gossip about young people’s day-to-day lives: “Plus belle la vie” might be termed “fictional telereality”.
And transmedia?
Strictly speaking, no transmedia experience on “Plus belle la vie”, though it does have some cross-media best practices to offer:
- rerunning episodes on the web is a hit formula!! => over 100,000 clients/day pay to stream the episode at €1/24h or €5 premium streaming for 5 days
- derivatives: in the online boutique you can buy all the actors’ outfits, “Plus belle la vie”-branded set props (e.g. mug, chair etc.), video games – and that amounts to a killing ;-)
- option of creating your own avatar and dialoguing live with the actors from the series
- emergence of fan community sites/forums, strong bonds between fans who debate the issues addressed in each episode
- the scriptwriters tap the forums for inspiration in writing the next episodes (in iterative mode). FR3 regularly holds online polls along the lines of “could X fall for Y”: if 70% feel they’re a good match, then that gets worked up and put into the series.
- No product placement during the series, just sponsoring by a costume jewellery brand, a health insurance company and a food product for teens, perfectly geared to the target audience.
The series has been sold to and is broadcast in over 10 different countries, reruns in France on France 4 and Gulli….
For more information about Laurence Corroy’s conference : here
Amaury Boulanger, responsable marketing. Transmedia Lab.
