Richard Gotainer’s advertising jingles are still etched in our memories. His most famous songs include “On se lève tous pour Danette” and “Vittel, buvez, éliminez”, which have become staples of 80s advertising history.
Although our professions are different, our shared passion for musical creation and bold brands unites us. We were very curious to have the opinion of this great man responsible for the creation of several hundred advertising hits!
In the middle of his tour, Richard was kind enough to answer our questions.
Hi Richard, your collaborations with brands as a singer-songwriter have left their mark on entire generations. Could you tell us a bit about your creative process?
“For me, frankly, there’s no real dividing line between advertising, a song or any other form of creation. To make a commercial hit (good brand music) you just have to take into account 2 elements:
The first thing you have to bear in mind, so to speak, is that in a commercial, the subject is imposed. But strangely enough, it’s precisely this constraint that offers me an opportunity for exploration that I find fascinating. It takes me in directions I might never have considered otherwise.
The other important parameter is that in the world of advertising, time is gold. Short formats, especially 30 seconds, are king. It’s both a challenge and a real creative opportunity. This time limit pushes us to be super efficient and precise in the creation of brand music.
As a designer, I never work solo. Collaboration with a musician/composer is essential. Our exchanges are a constant back and forth, where our ideas influence each other.
It’s a dynamic collaboration where everyone brings their own touch to create something truly unique.”
Can you tell us more about this collaboration with the composer?
In fact, I always prepare the groundwork beforehand. I define the concept and lay down the words that will serve as a foundation for the musical composition. It’s a bit like drawing the outlines of a painting that the musician will then fill in with colours.
My role is to provide a clear structure and precise ideas, while leaving the door open to the composer’s creativity.
Working with a composer is really great. We exchange ideas and inspiration, and that gives him a solid framework within which to build the brand’s music. It’s as if I give him a blank canvas with the outlines already drawn, and he adds all the richness of the harmonies and arrangements. Our exchanges are really crucial in giving life to a creation that hits the bull’s-eye.
Some of your adverts ended up becoming real songs on your albums. How did that work out?
“It really wasn’t planned at the outset, in fact. Take, for example, the song for the Infinitif ad that became Primitif. It started with a problem raised by a client via an agency.
The idea came to me just like that, to write a text in the infinitive. It seemed obvious at the time. So we did something that sounded like a song, without even knowing it at the time! The client didn’t react, so Claude Engel and I, the composer, thought it would be cool to turn this 30-second advert into a real 3-minute song. And so Primitif was born.
The funny thing is that the client woke up and said “We’re finally going to take this song. And we replied: “Well, that’s nice of you, but we’ve already turned it into a song. If you want, we can do another piece of branded music for you.” But no, he really wanted this one.
So the advert and the song came out together, it was perfect for promotion, everyone was happy with it. But really, it wasn’t planned at all, it was just a nice coincidence”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdg9vnnEgHQIn today’s advertising world, brands are making massive use of well-known titles in what is known as synchronisation. What are your views on this choice?
“Honestly, I find it really distressing… Maybe I’m a bit biased on the subject, but seriously, I find it perplexing. There’s no real creation going on here, no brand-specific musical identity.
Take Renault ads, for example, where everything is in English… After all, it’s a French brand, isn’t it? Can you imagine Americans singing in French to promote an American brand?
It’s really sad to see, and everyone’s doing it, whether it’s for sanitary towels or yoghurt. Everyone’s moving in the same direction.
Unfortunately, that’s what’s fashionable at the moment. It’s the easy choice, because I find that it’s much harder to create a real advertising song that will become a hit than just to do a cover version.”
“I find it much more difficult to create a real publicity song that will become a hit than to simply do a cover version.”
Is it the fear of taking risks?
“This is a crucial point that you raise. In the world of commerce and industry, there’s this notion of risk. If an advertiser refuses to take risks, they will end up with something banal, with no surprises. To surprise, you have to dare to make mistakes, and that’s exactly the opposite of what marketing advocates!
Marketing wants to avoid mistakes at all costs. It studies the market to say: “That’s it, that’s the way to do it”. And often, to avoid mistakes, it gives people what they expect! As a result, there’s no surprise, no novelty. And frankly, I don’t think that’s a very good approach.
Marketing has taken over from communication. In fact, we’re seeing fewer and fewer communications directors and creative directors, and more and more marketing directors.
What’s even more disappointing is that they get it wrong all the time. Personally, I don’t understand the new ads any more.
It used to be that in a few seconds I could decipher the strategic copy and understand the client’s approach. But now there are campaigns where they talk for 20 or 25 seconds about something completely irrelevant, and then in the last 5 seconds they talk about the product. Frankly, for me, that’s money down the drain.
Often, advertisers just want to do what their competitors are doing, so it’s a snowball effect. Once a trend is launched, everyone wants their piece of the pie, their takeover, their synchronisation. It’s a vicious circle.
If you had a message for agencies and brands, what would you say to them?
“Well, if I had one message for advertisers and agencies, it would be to encourage them to stop making their advertising songs themselves and to call in the professionals.
I’ve noticed a fairly widespread phenomenon among agencies: they tend to set up an in-house sound and image production unit, which leads them to think that they can manage everything themselves. But very quickly they come up against their limitations. Because frankly, it’s not enough to have a good computer and editing software to make something really good. You need skilled people, sometimes even an entire team who have mastered the subject.
It’s a shame not to call on professionals whose job it is. There really are experts in the field of writing and composition.
“To surprise, you have to dare to make mistakes, and that’s exactly the opposite of what marketing advocates!”
And today, what do you think of the importance of music in the context of a brand?
“For me, the ultimate is when a brand is associated with a piece of music, a song. It’s a much more effective strategy for the advertiser than simply using a well-known song, like the Rolling Stones for example, to sell butter. It doesn’t work as well, and I don’t really understand this snobbery.
There are sometimes attempts to cover melodies adapted to a brand that border on the ridiculous. Take that ‘ciao ciao ciao’ thing for a safety box, for example. It’s just down-market, bordering on zero creativity, and frankly, it takes people for idiots.
I recently had to work on a design for a brand that wasn’t exactly glamorous, and I can tell you that it took me several months to perfect it. It was a real challenge, but super stimulating.
Richard Gotainer is currently on tour with Brice Delage in the show “Gotainer Ramène sa Phrase”, in which he performs his greatest hits in a totally new poetic-rock formula!
Check out all the tour dates on his website.
