Second life: Havas lets people who were dead have their say

Watch advertising in most cases hardly differs from each other, everything looks very similar. The recognition effect is thus lost. The Zurich-based watch brand Maurice de Mauriac is therefore breaking new ground and tackling the subject of time in a previously unseen way. The current campaign is based on a simple insight: there are two kinds of time. There is the time we measure. And there is the time we have. The time on the clock. And the time of our lives.

No one knows this better than someone who has once had a near-death experience. That is why people who have experienced such a situation firsthand have their say. They describe their new understanding of time and how their relationship to it has changed since then. The interviewees shed light on the subject from a completely new perspective.

Four people, four experiences. There is Claire Stiefel, who almost drowned as a girl. For her, the moment of death was the most beautiful thing that ever happened to her. This "timeless state" she felt has remained important to her to this day. Robert Bartscher experienced everything together in death - time lost its linearity, as he believes. This experience left a lasting impression on him and his views. The same happened to Joachim S., who, after his near-death experience, is grateful for every second he still has to live, despite having lost an arm and a leg. And finally Ursula Maerz: For her, death was a traumatic experience. It took her a while to accept that she was "in overtime," as she puts it.

The heart of the campaign is the microsite Mauricedemauriac.ch/second-lifewhere the protagonists talk about their fate in interview films. Social media teasers, banners, ads, and posters use powerful images to guide users to the microsite. The campaign, which was launched just in time for the start of Baselworld, acts sensitively as an ambassador for Maurice de Mauriac. And brings to light something important on which the respondents agree: Time is one of the most precious things we possess, and everyone should use it consciously and well for themselves. Second by second.

Responsible at Maurice de Mauriac: Daniel Dreifuss, Leo Dreifuss, Jörg Kremer (overall responsibility) Simon Kaserer (microsite). Responsible at Havas: Frank Bodin (overall responsibility), Patrick Beeli (creative direction), Martina Miani (art direction), Silja Rast, Patrick Bucher (text), Alexandra Cron (consulting); Igor Santacattarina (d+p); Crunch (film production); Lea Meienberg (photography).