Danao's 'It's Good to Be Unique' campaign, created by Rosbeef! in Paris, marked the brand's return to French television in August 2019 with two narrative films
ARCHIVEDanao Champions Individuality in Its 2019 French Brand Comeback
Danao's 'It's Good to Be Unique' is a 2019 French television campaign created by Paris-based agency Rosbeef! that positions the non-alcoholic fruit drink as a symbol of personal distinctiveness, using narrative short films to argue that embracing eccentricity is both admirable and refreshing.
The campaign launched in France in August 2019, marking what CB News described as Danao's formal return to advertising with Rosbeef!, published under the headline 'Danao de retour avec Rosbeef!' on 25 August 2019. Two short television films were produced for the campaign by Raise Up, with the American directorial duo Cousins at the helm. One of the two films is titled 'Danao – Cheval-Bâton', a vignette built around the playful absurdity of hobby horse racing, a sport in which participants simulate equestrian competition on foot using stick horses. A second film features a chat-sirène, or cat-mermaid, scenario of comparable whimsy. Both executions place eccentric characters in situations where their singular qualities are presented not as flaws but as cause for quiet pride.
Beyond its creative conceits, the campaign served a dual commercial purpose. According to CB News, the 2019 work supported an updated brand platform while simultaneously announcing new Danao recipes and a no-added-sugar formulation. The campaign is classified within the Drinks (Non Alcoholic) category and comprises two media assets produced specifically for the French market. In France, the campaign represented a deliberate repositioning rather than an incremental creative refresh, establishing individuality and eccentricity as the foundational idea on which Danao's renewed presence in the market would rest.
Danao's strategic brief in 2019 was shaped by a French fruit drink market under measurable pressure. According to indexbox.io, French citrus and tropical juice imports declined at an average annual rate of approximately five percent between 2019 and 2023, signalling a category contraction that made brand differentiation a commercial necessity rather than a creative luxury. In that climate, a platform built on uniqueness carried genuine strategic weight.
The competitive landscape in France at the time was formidable. According to YouGov, Tropicana held the position of market leader in French fruit juice in 2019, with Joker mounting a strong challenge at the beginning of that year. Tropicana's established equity rested on premium fruit credentials, freshness, and naturalness — a rational territory that left emotional and identity-driven positioning relatively open. Danao's decision, executed by Rosbeef!, to occupy the individuality space rather than compete on ingredient claims was a coherent response to that gap. Where market leaders spoke to what was inside the bottle, Danao spoke to who was holding it.
The strategic architecture was built on a consumer insight that reads as culturally specific to France. French audiences, particularly in consumer goods advertising, have historically shown receptiveness to wit, surrealism, and the quiet celebration of personal idiosyncrasy. By casting eccentric protagonists — hobby horse riders, cat-mermaids — as the heroes of everyday life, Rosbeef! translated the brand's individuality platform into a visual language that did not require explanation. Strategists Evelyne Bourdonne and Amandine Flamand are credited with the strategic planning underpinning the campaign, according to Clapboard. The approach also aligned with the reformulated product, framing new recipes and no added sugar not as health claims but as further proof of a brand willing to do things its own way.
Danao's 'It's Good to Be Unique' was directed by Cousins, an American directorial duo, working through production company Raise Up. The choice of an American directing team for a French domestic campaign is itself a quiet expression of the brief's core idea — that the most interesting results often come from unexpected combinations.
The films adopt a narrative genre, using short-form storytelling rather than product demonstration or celebrity endorsement to carry the brand message. In 'Danao – Cheval-Bâton', the creative premise centres on hobby horse racing, a real competitive pursuit that already carries a degree of built-in absurdism. The film finds its emotional register not in mockery but in affection, presenting its protagonists as entirely sincere participants in a world of their own making. The chat-sirène film follows a comparable logic, placing a fantastical character in an ordinary context and allowing the contrast to do the persuasive work. Both executions are consistent with a creative strategy that treats eccentricity as aspiration rather than punchline.
Creative direction on the campaign was shared across three credited directors: Benoît Lagalle, Cyril Hucleux, and Frans Mccabe, according to Clapboard and Ads of the World. Robin Accard served as TV producer, overseeing production logistics for both films. Sound production was handled by Octopus, with post-production completed by Firm. The production apparatus, while modest in its public documentation, reflects a cohesive craft approach in which every credited role points toward the same tonal goal: warmth, wit, and an unwillingness to take itself entirely seriously. In France, where advertising film has a long tradition of literary and cinematic ambition, the campaign's decision to invest in narrative form over spectacle was a deliberate and legible creative choice.
ARCHIVENo verified performance data for 'It's Good to Be Unique' is publicly available. No sales uplift figures, brand tracking results, media spend disclosures, or audience reach metrics have been published in connection with the campaign. What can be assessed is the structural logic of the work and the conditions under which it entered the French market.
The campaign's Clapboard Score of 59 out of 100 reflects a creative execution that is coherent and tonally consistent but constrained in its ambition. The narrative approach is well-chosen for the brief, and the two-film format allows the individuality platform to breathe across more than a single scenario. However, a score in the mid-range suggests that the executions, while charming, do not fully transcend their premises. The absurdist scenarios are legible and likeable without being particularly surprising, and the brand's voice, while distinctive enough to mark a return to market, does not yet carry the cultural resonance that would make the campaign a lasting reference point in French food and drink advertising.
What the campaign achieves structurally is a clean platform launch. By pairing a reformulated product — new recipes, no added sugar, as reported by CB News — with a brand idea rather than a product claim, Danao and Rosbeef! created a foundation on which subsequent work could build. The decision to use film, the French-language execution, and the culturally attuned casting of eccentric protagonists all point to a campaign designed not merely to announce a return but to establish a direction. Whether that direction was sustained beyond 2019 is not documented in available public sources.
Danao's 'It's Good to Be Unique' is a 2019 French advertising campaign created by Rosbeef! in Paris. It uses two short narrative films to position Danao as a drink for people who embrace their individuality. The campaign also supported a product reformulation featuring new recipes and no added sugar, as reported by CB News.
Rosbeef!, a Paris-based advertising agency, created the campaign. CB News reported the collaboration on 25 August 2019, describing it as Danao's return to advertising with Rosbeef!. The agency's strategic planning was led by Evelyne Bourdonne and Amandine Flamand, according to Clapboard, with creative direction shared by Benoît Lagalle, Cyril Hucleux, and Frans Mccabe.
Cousins, an American directorial duo, directed both films in the campaign through production company Raise Up. According to Clapboard and Ads of the World, Robin Accard served as TV producer, Octopus handled sound production, and post-production was completed by Firm. The Cheval-Bâton film centred on hobby horse racing as its central absurdist premise.
France's non-alcoholic fruit drink market was highly competitive in 2019. According to YouGov, Tropicana led the French fruit juice category, with Joker mounting a strong challenge early that year. Both rivals held rational, ingredient-led positions, leaving the identity and individuality territory that Danao and Rosbeef! chose to occupy relatively open for differentiation.
Danao's 'It's Good to Be Unique' received a Clapboard Score of 59 out of 100. The score reflects a campaign that is tonally consistent and strategically coherent but does not fully transcend its creative premises. The narrative absurdism is warm and legible, though it stops short of the cultural impact that would mark a definitive category intervention in French food and drink advertising.
Danao and Rosbeef! chose narrative film to build emotional equity rather than compete on ingredient claims already owned by rivals. In France, where citrus and tropical juice imports were declining at approximately five percent annually according to indexbox.io, differentiation through identity rather than product specification offered a more defensible and culturally resonant strategic position for the brand's return to market.
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