Autan
The Apéro Ambush campaign is a digital and experiential campaign designed at Amazon for SC Johnson brand Autan, in France.
Problem
Autan, SC Johnson’s mosquito repellent brand, faced low brand awareness in France—just 3% unaided. Despite increased mosquito presence and risk due to climate change, French consumers largely didn’t consider repellents essential in daily life. Most only think about it after getting bitten—usually during summer evenings. Autan needed to disrupt that passive mindset and gain attention fast, especially with competitors dominating both pharmacy and mass market channels
Task
Drive relevance and salience for Autan in France by reframing repellent as a daily summer essential—increasing sales on Amazon.
Team
Nick Tebbutt Creative Direction
Ariana Velazquez Art Direction
Lauren McCall Producer
INSIGHT
Mosquito bites don’t feel like a problem—until they ruin your favorite part of the day. And in France, that moment is apéro hour, when friends gather outdoors to snack, sip, and socialize at dusk… just as mosquitoes come out to feast.
IDEA
"Apéro Ambush"
A three-part campaign combining physical stunts with digital media to intercept French consumers just before they get bitten—and make Autan a must-have part of summer living.
Phase 1: Tease and Promote
We launched with a digital-first campaign to generate intrigue and tease something unexpected.
Created a “fake out-of-home” (FOOH) execution using Autan’s astronaut character—placed in highly visible Amazon media placements
Built a custom Amazon landing page featuring:
A mosquito forecast tool (leveraging Alexa’s weather API—first use of its kind on Amazon retail pages)
Autan product info + 30% promo
A countdown to the upcoming ambush events
Customers saw media > clicked through to explore > learned more > and shopped early—all while curiosity built around the astronaut’s mysterious return.
Phase 2: Apéro Ambushes
Next, we brought the campaign into the real world with surprise in-person events across Paris. A surreal but hyper-relevant brand moment that sparked shareability and drove urgency to purchase before the bite.
The notable astronaut character from Autan's existing creative explored Paris, finding customers to playfully disrupt and deliver Autan to, preparing them for peak mosquito moments.
The astronaut offered products of Autan to select groups of customers in anticipation of apéro hour
A supporting crew handed out QR codes driving to the page with a 30% discount promo
Micro-influencers created social content from the ambushes
Passersby organically shared on social, expanding reach
Phase 3: Post-Ambush Momentum
*Note: prime video ad and micro-influencer content still in development. visuals to come soon.
We refreshed the campaign across Amazon touchpoints to capture new attention and convert lingering interest into action.
We integrated mosquito forecasts directly on the page—turning a simple retail experience into a timely tool.
We integrated mosquito forecasts directly on the page—turning a simple retail experience into a timely tool.
The landing page updated with footage from the event, updated creative, and continued promotion
Influencer content and media retargeting drove further traffic to the product page
Prime Video ad placement rolled out the branded content to an even wider audience
IMPACT
My Role
As Art Director, I led the creative ideation, storytelling, and client buy-in from concept to rollout.
Developed three pitch concepts, including “Apéro Ambushes” which was ultimately sold through
Led visual development of the FOOH concept, ensuring alignment with Autan’s quirky but informative tone
Created pitch decks, mocks, and storyline flows to guide both internal stakeholders and the client
Managed creative reviews and approvals, striking the balance between campaign innovation and brand consistency
Helped integrate new tech (Alexa's weather API) onto the Amazon marketplace, paving the way for future campaigns
This was Autan’s first-ever investment with the Amazon Endemics team in France—a difficult market to win in. This campaign marked a breakthrough, not just for the client, but for our category team.
Takeaway
“Apéro Ambushes” flipped the mosquito moment on its head—making it a cultural touchpoint rather than an annoyance. By blending physical surprise with digital storytelling, we proved that even a low-awareness brand in a “boring” category could own the summer.
