Dacia Redefines Family in Friends are Family too
Dacia's "Friends are Family too" is a 2026 automotive campaign created by Publicis Conseil, launched in January 2026 across Europe, that redefines the concept of family by celebrating chosen bonds of friendship as the emotional foundation for the redesigned Dacia Jogger, a seven-seat personal transportation vehicle powered by a new 155 hp hybrid engine.
The campaign arrives on the heels of a significant product moment. In October 2025, Dacia unveiled a comprehensively redesigned Jogger featuring a reworked exterior, a new 10-inch screen, and a 155 hp hybrid engine. Rather than lean into the vehicle's functional credentials as a modern family vehicle, Dacia and Publicis Conseil chose a more culturally provocative angle: the idea that family is not only the one you are born into, but the one you choose. In France, where the Jogger occupies a distinct position in the accessible seven-seat segment, this creative decision carries particular social resonance, reflecting a shift in household structures and how people define meaningful relationships.
The campaign is built as a full 360-degree ecosystem encompassing digital content, online videos, CRM, and campaign photography. Its centrepiece is a film directed by Vladimir de Fontenay that moves through scenes of everyday life shared between friends — sincere, warm, and laced with humor — to make the argument that these bonds can be every bit as profound as blood ties. The soundtrack is provided by Botibol, a Bordeaux-based indie rock band whose song "Friends" serves as a pop-rock anthem to authentic connection. Launching across Europe in January 2026, the campaign also marks a landmark in responsible production: as part of the Dacia Synergie 2025 project, Dacia, Publicis Conseil, and production companies Prodigious, Iconoclast, and Shot in Mars became the first automotive brand globally to receive the two-star Ecoprod label, audited by AFNOR Certification. Clapboard rates the campaign 63 out of 100.
Dacia's strategic shift with Friends are Family too is rooted in a precise consumer insight: the traditional nuclear family model no longer represents the majority of lived experience for car-buyers in France. The campaign treats friendship groups as a legitimate and commercially significant form of household unit, directly challenging the category convention that seven-seat vehicles like the Jogger must be positioned solely as tools for parents and children.
This move is strategically well-timed. According to Media Renaultgroup, Dacia sold 697,408 units globally in 2025, representing a 3.1% increase year over year — growth that indicates momentum, but also a competitive environment in which differentiation matters. In the accessible multi-seat segment in France, Dacia faces meaningful competition from the Citroën Berlingo, which similarly targets practical personal transportation needs, and from the Volkswagen Touran in the slightly premium tier. Against these rivals, Dacia's traditional positioning as the brand offering the best value for money is well established, but the Friends are Family too campaign signals a deliberate evolution: the brand is now investing in emotional and cultural relevance alongside its functional credentials.
According to France Publicisgroupe, this campaign continues a creative trajectory for Publicis Conseil and Dacia that began with the 2021 visual identity overhaul and continued through campaigns such as "Such a good day" for the Dacia Spring in 2024. Each successive campaign has nudged the brand further toward warmth, authenticity, and proximity to real life in France — qualities that the automotive category often underdelivers. Friends are Family too represents the most culturally ambitious execution of that strategy yet, using a social observation about chosen family to make a modern family vehicle feel genuinely contemporary rather than merely practical.
Vladimir de Fontenay directs the centrepiece film for Friends are Family too, bringing a documentary-adjacent sensitivity to scenes of friendship that feel observed rather than constructed. De Fontenay's approach draws on a register of tenderness and humor that avoids the staged domesticity common in automotive advertising, letting the relationships between characters carry the emotional argument rather than the vehicle itself.
The production brings together a detailed creative and technical team. Director of photography Justin Brown shoots the film for production company Iconoclast, with producer Nathalie Le Caer and line producer Alexia Levy overseeing the shoot, and executive production handled by Shot in Mars, according to publicisconseil.fr. Post-production is managed by Prodigious, with post producers Lalia Legan and Raimbaut Gaffier, editor Roxane Faure Huet, and colorist Arthur Paux each contributing to a final aesthetic that feels warm and naturalistic rather than high-gloss automotive, per publicisconseil.fr. Sound and music production is handled by Start-Rec, with sound production director Mathieu François, sound producer and director Pierre Antoine Pilat, and sound engineer Roman Dutour completing the audio team, according to publicisconseil.fr.
The creative direction is led by Romulus Petcan and Gabriel Gherca, with art direction by Matthieu Vivinis, and the campaign carries the broader oversight of Publicis Conseil Global CCO and CEO Marco Venturelli, as noted by publicisconseil.fr. Still photography across the 360-degree ecosystem is the work of Sébastien Staub, whose images complement the film's tone with the same documentary warmth. The soundtrack — "Friends" by Bordeaux-based indie rock band Botibol — functions as more than a musical backdrop; its upbeat pop-rock energy reinforces the campaign's celebration of authentic, chosen connection, and its selection by a French regional act adds a layer of cultural specificity that aligns with Dacia's commitment to closeness to real life.
No independently verified campaign performance data for Friends are Family too — such as reach figures, engagement rates, or sales attribution — is publicly available at this time. What the public record does confirm is the commercial and reputational context into which the campaign launched. According to media.renaultgroup.com, Dacia's worldwide sales reached 697,408 units in 2025, up 3.1% year on year, establishing a growth baseline against which the Jogger's revised positioning will be measured through 2026.
The campaign's most documentable impact is structural rather than metric. Friends are Family too is part of the Dacia Synergie 2025 project, which earned the two-star Ecoprod label — audited by AFNOR Certification — for four films covering the Duster, Logan, Sandero, and Jogger, as confirmed by france.publicisgroupe.com. This is described as a world first in the automotive sector, representing a measurable advance in the responsible transformation of audiovisual production. For a brand competing on value and authenticity in France, the certification reinforces brand credibility in an era when sustainable production practices are increasingly scrutinised by both media buyers and consumers.
From a creative standpoint, the structural effectiveness of the campaign is grounded in the decision to anchor an automotive brief in a universal social truth — that friendship can be family — rather than in product specification alone. The 155 hp hybrid engine and the 10-inch screen are present in the product story, but the film earns attention before it earns consideration. Clapboard rates Friends are Family too at 63 out of 100, reflecting a campaign that executes its emotional premise with craft and sincerity, while leaving room for the broader metrics of reach and commercial conversion to be assessed as 2026 progresses.
Friends are Family too is a 2026 automotive campaign by Dacia and Publicis Conseil, launched in January 2026 across Europe. It promotes the redesigned Dacia Jogger by reframing the family car concept around chosen bonds of friendship, using a film directed by Vladimir de Fontenay and a soundtrack by Bordeaux-based band Botibol.
The redesigned Dacia Jogger was unveiled in October 2025 with a reworked exterior, a new 10-inch screen, and a 155 hp hybrid engine. These updates position it as a modern family vehicle with meaningfully upgraded technology and powertrain credentials compared to its predecessor, according to Dacia's own published materials.
Vladimir de Fontenay directed the centrepiece film for Friends are Family too. He worked alongside director of photography Justin Brown and production company Iconoclast, with executive production by Shot in Mars and post-production handled by Prodigious, according to publicisconseil.fr.
Dacia, Publicis Conseil, Prodigious, Iconoclast, and Shot in Mars received the two-star Ecoprod label, audited by AFNOR Certification, for four films produced under the Dacia Synergie 2025 project. According to france.publicisgroupe.com, this is a world first in the automotive sector for responsible audiovisual production.
Clapboard rates Friends are Family too at 63 out of 100. The score reflects a campaign that executes its emotional premise — redefining family around friendship — with craft and sincerity, while broader commercial performance metrics for the January 2026 European launch remain to be assessed over the course of the year.
The campaign features "Friends" by Botibol, a Bordeaux-based indie rock band. The upbeat pop-rock track functions as a celebration of authentic friendship and was selected to reinforce the campaign's central theme of chosen bonds, complementing the film's warm and naturalistic visual tone across the European rollout.
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