Malik Bentalha
Malik Bentalha is a French comedian and actor. Discovered by Jamel Debbouze in 2010, he was part of the Jamel Comedy Club before launching his first one-man show.
Since then, he has enjoyed ongoing success both on stage and on screen, starring in films such as Pattaya, Taxi 5, and Le Doudou.
Expertises
ActivationStep 1: the set-up
To announce his return to the stage with the launch of his new show “Encore” at L’Olympia, we staged the theft of his phone.
We took on the role of someone who had found a celebrity’s phone and acted out their possible reactions. Over several hours, we gradually took control of his social media accounts, snooped through his photos, and eventually explored his contact list, teasing followers with the idea of finding celebrity phone numbers – the direction we wanted to lead the audience toward.
Step 2: the escalation
Users fell for it, and the topic quickly trended among the most talked-about subjects on Twitter. People began asking the “thief” to leak celebrity phone numbers, fully playing along with the stunt.
Step 3: the reveal
We did share the numbers – but with a twist. The numbers actually led to voicemails from celebrities, each leaving a custom message asking people to stop calling them about Malik and instead go see him live at L’Olympia.
Example: “Hi, you’ve reached DJ Snake’s voicemail. Leave me a message, and I’ll call you back. But… if you’re calling me again about Malik Bentalha, please stop! If you want to see him, go see him at L’Olympia.”
Results: 15 million people reached and extensive coverage in the press and on TV.
