The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2023–2024
Darty's 'Long-Lasting Reviews' wait a year before judging products — Eurobest GP
Darty invites customers to review appliances only after a year of use, turning online reviews into proof of durability — Eurobest Creative Strategy Grand Prix.
Darty · Publicis Conseil
What it had to solve
Darty, a French electronics retailer, had made sustainability its strategy since 2018 — helping products last longer even if that meant selling fewer. But online reviews undermined the story: seven in ten French shoppers rely on them when buying, yet 77% of reviews are written less than a week after a product arrives, so nobody could tell whether a washing machine or fridge still worked a year later.
How it works
Darty, France's big electronics-and-appliance retailer, had anchored its strategy in sustainability since 2018 — helping products last longer, even if that meant selling fewer. Its blind spot was the moment of choice: seven in ten French shoppers rely on online reviews, yet 77% of reviews are written within a week of receiving a product, when a washing machine can only be judged on first impressions.
In April 2023 Darty and Publicis Conseil launched 'Les Avis Longue Durée' ('Long-Lasting Reviews'). Customers are invited to come back and rate products they have owned for more than 12 months, and these long-use reviews are surfaced on the retailer's pages — flipping the convention that reviews are for the first week of ownership.
The idea let time be the judge, and awards followed: a Gold at the 2024 London International Awards, a Direct Gold at Cannes Lions 2024 and the Creative Strategy Grand Prix at Eurobest 2024. By mid-2024 Darty said its catalogue carried close to 4 million customer reviews across 18,000 products, and the case became a reference for making sustainability commercially useful.
Why it lands
- It attacked the root of consumer distrust — reviews written days after unboxing — instead of adding more marketing claims.
- It used the retailer's own review channel as the medium, so the proof lived exactly where shoppers already look.
- It made sustainability commercially useful: a product that truly lasts now earns better, later-dated reviews.
- The twist was restraint — Darty asked for fewer early reviews to gain more trust and a reason to buy for the long term.
What it did
The mechanism made reviews a statement about longevity rather than unboxing excitement. It took the Creative Strategy Grand Prix at Eurobest 2024, a Gold at the 2024 London International Awards and a Direct Gold at Cannes Lions 2024; by mid-2024 Darty said its catalogue carried close to 4 million customer reviews across 18,000 products, and the case became Publicis Conseil's proof that sustainability and profitability can be reconciled.
What you can take
Don't just claim your products last — rebuild the evidence system so durability becomes visible: changing when customers can judge you can be stronger than anything you say.
Since then
The program kept running after launch: by mid-2024 Darty described its pages as letting customers leave ratings up to twelve months after purchase, and the retailer said its catalogue carried close to 4 million customer reviews across 18,000 products. The work added a Direct Gold at Cannes Lions 2024 and the Creative Strategy Grand Prix at Eurobest 2024 to its record, and was cited as proof that sustainability and profitability can be reconciled.
Sources
- Eurobest announces its Grands Prix, Special Awards and Young Creatives Competition winners for 2024
- LIA 2024 Winners — 'Long Lasting Reviews' (Publicis Conseil for Darty)
- Darty éclaire le choix des clients avec « Les Avis Longue Durée »
- Publicis Conseil, agence de l'année aux Cannes Lions 2024
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