23FRENCH BRANDS

REMARKABLE MARKETING EXAMPLES

JÉRÉMIE LORRAIN

L’ORÉAL PARIS 1

L’Oréal Paris establishes itself as a world leader in cosmetics by introducing every new product with a luxurious branding pack for the mass market : R&D improvements, target study, high advertising budget with a memorable tagline, a famous local guest star for the show and a perfect in-store retail layout to grab the attention again.

Still worth it !

FREE 2

A 2€ mobile phone plan for all users with unlimited text messages is what made Free a hit

Free is the outsider of the telecommunication industry that broke the rules among the existing country leaders. It showed up with a low-cost Internet & Mobile phone offer to conquer the market. His founder Xavier Niel is a famous successful entrepreneur. He plays it like Steve Jobs with online teasing & live presentations to revolutionize the offer.

CHANEL 3 Chanel is both simple & extravagant from its founder’s personality traits - Coco Chanel. It’s a brand for the wealthy & classy individuals with a feminine & romantic inspiration. The logo, the website, the designer, the catwalks, the celebrities, the VIP events & of course the products all stand for a sophisticated & timeless image.

CITROËN 4

Citroën has always been a great car dealership, but its brand suffered an aging image after the crisis. They recently took a sudden change that worked like magic with a modern look makeover. Citroën recreated a whole new experience with colorful showrooms and a powerful tagline : « Creative Technology ». The visual identity & the line extension resulted in a futuristic differentiation.

The launch of the « DS » range brilliantly erased the aging designs of the past

E.LECLERC 5

E.Leclerc has a clear strategy : being the cheapest with a high quality offer. It has a network of semi-independent hypermarkets that allow mass distribution & local adaptation. The brand likes to claim how close from its consumers it gets : the owner’s face in the media, the funny advertising spots, the constant war price, a modern image, the drive thru & delivery innovations…

BIC 6

BIC is often mentioned as a successful brand, relying on simple yet quality goods at a fair price. Everyone uses a Bic once in his life. Except the disposable fragrance failure, it keeps maintaining famous standards with line extensions like « BIC Kids », partnering with Disney or Barbie. Always offering unexpected products, BIC seduces a large target worldwide & influences our habits.

The BIC pen is not to introduce any more, as for the lighters or razors…

CANAL+ 7 Canal + is a pay television satellite network with more than 15 different & innovative channels. The strength of Canal+ is to be able to offer fresh & exclusive content with engagement & humor. Live shows make their reputation by not censuring any behavior nor word, which makes Canal+ one of the coolest & enjoyable network. Every trailer or commercial is also either hilarious or ingeniously tempting.

RICARD 8

Ricard is a national mystical brand reflecting joy, sharing & get-together aperitifs. Its colors stand for the Sun & the Mediterranean Sea, which are equal to warmth & life delight. Today, it’s a popular brand thanks to a field communication around sport & culture. Ricard even has its own race circuit near Marseille, where it was born. The lasting success is also due to creative designs, limited edition bottles & sponsorship.

A popular brand crossing generations like a family value & consumption habit

L’OCCITANE 9

L’Occitane en Provence thrives as an authentic brand with genuine cosmetics & fragrances. Its cultural roots from the south of France is what make its credibility : sunny countryside, sensorial experience, a strong digital presence & colorful stores. L’Occitane stands for a carefree Mediterranean lifestyle offering high quality & organic products to an audience of sophisticated women globally.

DÉCATHLON 10 Décathlon is one of the French favorite brands as it truly represents a positive & committed store to go to. Décathlon stands out by distributing a mix of famous sportswear with its own innovative & affordable brands. They aim to create quality & pleasurable sport products accessible to all. You can try the products on-site among a young & dynamic sales team. It’s all about a real & simple buying experience.

By being intimate with its customers, the brand is operationally excellent

AFFLELOU 11 Alain Afflelou is logically its founder’s name, its DNA. He often plays out with it by appearing into his commercials. The tagline that gave the optician fame is still one the most memorable today : « Afflelou is crazy, he’s crazy! » This came out with a 2 for 1 eyeglasses offer on TV that revolutionized the industry. Plus, Afflelou now calls celebrities to keep the brand fresh & charismatic. Great strategy.

DIOR 12

Dior is a glamorous & straightforward luxury brand named after its creator Christian Dior. The company is well-known for organizing special events and developing POS limited universes. Dior regularly exposes elegant personalities in its commercials with exclusive stories & original visual contents. Their online strategy is also on point for their want-to-be-the-prettiest-in-the-room & fashion-conscious target.

NRJ 13 NRJ is a leading radio in France that has beautifully known how to grow into different markets : Radio, TV channel, NRJ Music Awards, mobile phone plan, Internet… By targeting a young - teen - audience, NRJ cultivates a rebel image with guerrilla marketing strategies & high budget innovations. Their Sales Academy is also a great tool to get closer to their public.

BLABLACAR 14

Blablacar is a global carpooling online platform that has continuously evolved with local marketing teams in about 20 countries & holistic campaigns. Their communication is well present on the web, radio & TV in order to consolidate the community. Blablacar’s strategy is to get closer to the media to clearly explain their concept. Plus, the environmental & economical contexts naturally back them up.

MOËT & CHANDON 15 Moët & Chandon is a well-known luxurious champagne brand based on fine production & advertising, but also event support. First appealing to the high class consumers, Moët has recently developed a strong interest in conquering the millennials by slightly tweaking the wine flavor & marketing. The brand communicates around special occasions to push the consumption with a trendy bottle shape.

DANONE 16 Danone is a world leader of the food industry with major co-branding successes like Subway or Starbucks and an impressive brand portfolio including yogurts, waters or medical food. Danone’s main concern is offering people better food alternatives for their diet while also respecting ethical methods. The brand also knows which distribution channels work best in every country it sells.

MICHELIN 17 Michelin is a global tyre manufacturer that makes the difference by adapting its range of products to any vehicle. Moreover, Michelin has a great digital presence & publishes travel guides, maps & famous restaurant & hotel reviews. This original strategy gives back an outstanding international media cover to the brand. « A better way forward »

MAIF 18 MAIF distinguishes itself from other insurance companies by a unique humanist & activist communication, far from the traditional speeches. Even its commercials are out of the box with a simple & minimalist graphic identity, straight talks and «  anti-profit  » attitude. This makes the MAIF one of the most trusted French brands.

ADOPTEUNMEC 19 Adopte Un Mec is a dating website where women can « adopt » a man like they’d buy an item at the supermarket. Man is considered a good. With an excellent brand concept, a powerful community manager, a good sense of humor & some pop up stores, Adopteunmec made sensation among millenials. The brand does not invest much in advertising, but every action it undertakes brings out curiosity.

LOUBOUTIN 20

Christian Louboutin is a true example of successful differentiation. The famous hand-made & high priced red sole clearly makes a statement of power & elegance whenever you notice them. Louboutin sells a whole experience - not just a shoe - that every woman aspires : feeling sexy & classy. The brand also knows how to go digital & extend lines with make up, accessories…

LA TROPÉZIENNE 21

La Tarte Tropézienne is a recognized creamy pie company from the famous city of Saint Tropez which keeps the hand-made recipe secrets. Its delicious taste lead the brand to several own stores on the French coast. Plus, its clever positioning allows it to be distributed out of the regional borders by partnering up with other luxurious lifestyle brands like Lacoste. The authentic red boutiques grow in airports, malls, etc.

MICHEL&AUGUSTIN22

Michel et Augustin is a natural food brand using fun & bold marketing to seduce gourmet consumers with authenticity & proximity. Its success is also due to a brilliant in-store visibility with premium demos & ingenious co-branding products with giants like Starbucks. Obviously, the brand is also very connected to its audience off/online and regularly offers well-packaged innovations.

JACQUIE & MICHEL23 Jacquie & Michel is the number 1 (amateur) porn website in France, born from a swinger couple. It first started with some shared online videos, but quickly went viral by the content’s originality : regular mid-aged swinger women who truly love sex & talking, shouting « Merci Jacquie & Michel » during the video shoot. It then became a clothing brand, dating website, DVD &sextoys seller, among others.

WHAT’S YOURS ?

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JÉRÉMIE LORRAINis a French wellness entrepreneur, alumni representative & branding enthusiast