Hay fever: Publicis turns pollen into design objects for Sanofi

Around 20 percent of all Swiss suffer from hay fever between January and August and avoid being near trees and flowering plants during this time. The fact is, however, that pollen is not only found outside, but also indoors. This is because pollen enters all kinds of indoor spaces, such as homes and offices, during ventilation and through clothing and hair.

For the campaign, Publicis initially worked with the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology to identify the most common pollen species that trigger hay fever in Switzerland: Ash, Birch, Grass, Ragweed, Sunflower and Dandelion. Their unexpected beauty was noticed when looking through the scanning electron microscope, which led to the idea of enlarging the pollen and creating real design objects from it, namely high-quality and fully functional lamps, and hanging them in various interior spaces as part of campaigns and events. For example, in the middle of the exhibition at Möbel Pfister, matching all other furniture and furnishings from the living area.

So if customers were interested in a supposedly beautiful designer lamp, the label informed them about the respective pollen name, the corresponding hay fever product from Sanofi and about the idea of the campaign - i.e. that pollen can also occur in living areas.

The campaign has been extended to other exhibition venues where you would also expect to find lamps but not pollen. These included bars, restaurants, hotel lobbies, fitness clubs and pop-up stores. In addition, the pollen lamps also hung in pharmacies, where Sanofi's hay fever products were directly promoted. Currently, the pollen lamps can be seen at the Bellevue pharmacy in Zurich until the end of May 2017.

For the project, Publicis collaborated with young designers from the Zurich University of the Arts. Scientific microscope images were recreated on screen as 3D objects and transformed into lamps. The natural shapes and structures of the pollen were modeled. The impressive series of lamps was then produced using selective laser sintering and the starting material nylon powder in a 3D printing process. This technology makes it possible to produce even large objects with many small details and complex structures. The result is so amazing and of such high quality that even the product designers were impressed. And with them, many more people who have experienced the pollen lamps live to this day and report on them in numerous, design-specific blogs.

Due to the great demand, the design objects are now sold under Pollen lamps.ch offered for sale. Prices per lamp range from 450 to 1400 Swiss francs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/5MxJ09qCq6k

Responsible at Sanofi: Francis Francis (Marketing Consumer Health Care), Marine Kieffer (Brand Manager), Beat Schori (General Manager). Responsible at Publicis: Thomas Wildberger (CEO), Michael Brauchli, Urs Schrepfer (CD), Regine Cavicchioli (AD), Christian Stüdi (Text), Frank Lang (Managing Director Digital), Salomé Koller, Christian Brütsch (Consulting). Responsible at Prodigious: Cem van der Schaar (Managing Director), Sandro Ducceschi (Web Programming), Stefan Rüegg (Inhouse Video Producer), Eliane Stettler (Art Buying); Pascale Weber (Photography); Remo Schlüp (Camera), Roman Jurt, Michael Kennedy (Product Design).