IN 1 MINUTE
Some adverts are remembered. And some adverts end up becoming part of a country’s collective memory.
In France, Pulco and Orangina belong to that second category. Not only because their campaigns were popular, but because they managed to activate something much deeper: shared references, humour, generational memories and a very French way of relating to advertising.
For a foreign company seeking to enter France, these kinds of references are not anecdotal. They are a strategic clue. Before communicating in a market, it is worth understanding which cultural codes already exist, which memories consumers share and which mental associations can be activated even indirectly.
Collective memory is not built with a single advert. It is built over years of presence, repetition, tone, context and cultural complicity.
And that is where a key lesson for any international company begins: a brand does not enter an empty market. It enters a territory full of references that others have already built.
The question we should be asking ourselves
Are we trying to launch a brand in a new market… or are we first trying to understand which references already live in consumers’ minds?
Some adverts do not disappear when the campaign ends
During periods of hot weather in France, there are still people who spontaneously remember a phrase associated with Pulco: il fait trop chaud pour travailler.
The exact date of the advert or the particular version each person remembers matters less. In fact, the memory itself may vary by generation: some references place the advert in the 1980s, while others recall it as advertising from the mid-1990s. The important thing is not perfect chronology. The important thing is that the reference still exists.
That is what turns a campaign into something more than a campaign. When an advertising phrase reappears in everyday conversations, when it is reactivated by the heat, by a particular situation or by a shared gesture, the brand no longer depends solely on its media investment. It begins to live within the collective memory.
And for any company that wants to communicate in a new market, that has an enormous implication: we are not only competing against brands. We are competing against memories.
Collective memory cannot be bought. It is built
A foreign company can buy advertising space in France, translate a campaign, hire media or open social media channels. But it cannot instantly buy the shared references that a market has built over decades.
Pulco does not occupy a place in French memory simply because it sold a refreshing drink. It does so because it managed to associate itself with a recognisable situation, a simple phrase, a tone and a moment in everyday life.
Orangina followed a different path, but with a similar logic. Its territory was not exactly the same. While Pulco could activate the idea of freshness, heat and taking a break, Orangina built a more eccentric, visual, absurd and humorous universe over the years. Its famous brand territory around the gesture of “shaking” the drink began to consolidate in the 1970s, and decades later it remained a central element of its advertising identity.
In the 1990s, Orangina reinforced that difference with campaigns featuring a very distinctive tone, memorable characters and a style of humour that does not always translate well outside France. Some pieces from that period were designed to rejuvenate the brand and connect with younger audiences through a more offbeat and recognisable tone.
That is the lesson. Two brands can operate in the same category. Both can be associated with heat, drinks, summer or refreshment. But they do not necessarily occupy the same place in the consumer’s mind.
Pulco refreshes. Orangina is remembered.
And that difference is not only creative. It is strategic.
What this reveals about France
These kinds of campaigns reveal something interesting about French advertising culture.
In France, advertising has not only been a commercial space. For years, it has also been an object of conversation, analysis, humour and popular culture.
The case of Culture Pub is particularly revealing. The programme was created as a show dedicated to decoding advertising and the media with humour, a critical tone and a cultural perspective. Culture Pub’s current description itself emphasises its aim of analysing society and popular culture through advertising, with advertising monitoring dating back to 1987.
This does not happen with the same intensity in every market. And for a foreign company, that difference matters.
Because entering France is not only about finding a good message. It is also about understanding how that market looks at messages: what it expects from a brand, what kind of humour it accepts, what tone it considers intelligent, what references it recognises, what kind of exaggeration it finds amusing, what solemnity pushes it away and what kind of wink it understands without explanation.
A campaign may be correctly translated and still fail. Not because the language is wrong, but because it has not decoded the system of references in which it will be received.
A foreign brand does not enter an empty market
This is one of the most common mistakes in internationalisation. Many companies prepare their entry into a new country as if the market were waiting for their proposition.
But no market is a blank slate. Every country has its advertising memory, familiar phrases, campaigns that were discussed at home, adverts that marked a generation and brands associated with a time of year, an emotion, a type of humour or an everyday situation.
A foreign company does not need to copy those references. In fact, trying to do so is often dangerous. What it does need is to understand them.
Because those references explain how a market builds familiarity, trust and complicity. And without familiarity, many campaigns may appear correct, but they do not connect.
The LVS2 strategic perspective
At LVS2, we do not look at Pulco or Orangina as examples of advertising nostalgia. We look at them as signals: signals of how a market builds memory, humour, trust and recognition.
For a Spanish, Asian or international company that wants to enter France, the question should not only be:
What campaign are we going to launch?
The question beforehand should be:
Which shared references already exist in this market, and how will they influence the way our brand is interpreted?
That difference changes the strategy. Because a brand is not only competing for attention. It is competing for meaning.
And meaning is never built from scratch. It is built within a cultural system that already exists before the company arrives.
That is why, before adapting a campaign, we need to read the market. Before choosing a tone, we need to understand its codes. Before translating a message, we need to interpret the mental territory that message is about to enter.
Why should France be on the radar?
France is a nearby market for many Spanish companies, but that proximity can be misleading. Precisely because it feels familiar, many companies underestimate its codes.
The French consumer may seem close, but does not always interpret authority, humour, trust, social proof, aesthetics or the relationship with a brand in the same way.
In sectors such as food, beverages, retail, tourism, luxury, technology or B2B services, these nuances can change the effectiveness of a strategy.
A company entering France needs more than presence. It needs legitimacy.
And legitimacy is not obtained simply by communicating well. It comes from understanding what makes a brand credible within that market.
LVS2 Framework: reading collective memory before communicating
Market: which references already exist?
Before launching a campaign, identify which brands, phrases, moments or codes form part of the market’s collective memory.
Not to imitate them, but to understand the mental territory we are entering.
Culture: how is complicity built?
Every market has a different way of accepting humour, emotion, authority or exaggeration.
What feels approachable in one country may seem superficial in another.
Positioning: what do we need to reinterpret?
The value proposition may remain the same. But the way meaning is built probably will not.
Entering a new market means deciding what to keep, what to explain differently and what assumptions to stop making.
Ecosystem: who legitimises the message?
In some markets, legitimacy comes from the media. In others, from experts, distributors, communities, institutions, opinion leaders or cultural references.
Understanding that ecosystem is just as important as defining the campaign.
Conclusion
Pulco and Orangina are not simply two remembered brands. They offer a way of understanding something deeper: how a market accumulates references, humour, memories and codes that continue to influence it years later.
For a foreign company, that collective memory may seem invisible. But invisible does not mean irrelevant. In fact, it is often quite the opposite.
What is invisible is often what most shapes the way a brand will be received.
That is why internationalisation is not simply about translating a campaign. It is not even just about adapting an aesthetic. It means entering a market knowing that others have already built meanings before us and that, if we want to be understood, we first need to learn how to read them.
Frequently asked questions
Why does collective memory matter in international branding?
Because it shapes how a market interprets a brand. People do not receive a message in a vacuum: they compare it with references, memories and codes they already know.
Should a foreign company use local references in its campaigns?
Not always. Using them without understanding them can feel forced. The important thing is not to copy local references, but to understand how they influence the perception of the message.
What can a Spanish company learn from Pulco and Orangina before entering France?
That France is not only a geographically close market. It is a market with its own advertising codes, humour, memory and expectations. Ignoring them can cause an otherwise correct campaign to fail to connect.
Can AI identify these cultural references?
It can help detect them or explain them in general terms. But interpreting when they are relevant, how to activate them and what risks they create for a brand requires local experience and strategic market insight.
The conversation continues
At International Expert Insights, we do not analyse campaigns out of nostalgia. We use them as gateways for decoding markets.
Pulco and Orangina remind us that a brand never communicates in a vacuum. It communicates within a culture that already has its own memories, associations and codes.
For any company that wants to enter France, the question is not only what it wants to say. It is also what the market will hear when it says it.
And perhaps that is where the real strategy begins.
