The Use of Influencers and Ambassadors in French Public Institutions' Communication Strategies
- Olivier Forlini
- Nov 28, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: Nov 29, 2024
A journey of experiences from French public companies, activating their Ambassadors and Influencers, through their social netwrorks.
Introduction
In a constantly evolving media landscape, French public institutions face unprecedented communication challenges. This November 2024 newsletter offers a fascinating glimpse into the innovative strategies employed by communication directors (DirComs) from various public entities to tackle these challenges.
(This edition is largely inspired by a highly interesting conference I attended recently, organized by the magazine Strategie. However, I approach it here in line with my favorite topics, such as image management and leveraging internal or external resources within organizations to maximize impact.)
At the heart of their concerns lies the need to bridge the gap between public perception and the reality of their actions. These communication professionals must navigate a complex environment where budget constraints collide with growing expectations for transparency and engagement.
The examples presented in this document illustrate a clear trend: the adoption of modern communication techniques, often borrowed from the private sector and tailored to the specificities of public service. From SNCF to the Louvre Museum, and through Île-de-France Mobilités and the La Poste Group, each institution develops customized approaches to enhance its image and legitimacy.
Strategic Alignment and Employer Branding
A recurring theme emerges across these experiences: the critical importance of alignment between communication and general management. This synergy is essential to ensure message consistency and dissemination effectiveness. Simultaneously, the development of employer branding has become a priority, particularly in a context where recruiting specialized talents, especially in technical fields like data science and digital, is a major challenge for the public sector.
The Digital Era and Social Media
The digital revolution has profoundly transformed communication strategies. Public institutions have heavily invested in social media, paying particular attention to platforms like TikTok to reach younger audiences. This effort goes hand-in-hand with an evolution in content creation, where young employees, particularly interns, play a critical role in validating and adapting messages to the unique codes of these new media.
Ambassadors and Influencers: Humanizing Communication
A significant trend is the growing use of employees as ambassadors for their institutions. This approach, exemplified by SNCF and its 80 influencer railway workers, aims to humanize the organization’s image and counter preconceived notions. The use of external influencers complements this strategy, enabling institutions to reach broader and more diverse audiences.
In the following pages, we will delve deeper into these innovative initiatives, providing an overview of best practices and lessons learned by these public institutions in their quest for more effective and engaging communication.
Feedback and Case Studies
Arcom – Marie Liutkus, Director of Communication
Regulator of audiovisual and digital communication (merger of CSA and Hadopi).
Employer branding is often crucial in the public sector to improve recruitment, particularly for highly sought-after profiles such as data scientists and digital experts.Another key takeaway from this feedback:
a) "Being aligned with the president or CEO is critical." Clear alignment in communication is essential.
b) It’s important to discern what is urgent and impactful versus what generates momentary buzz but lacks depth or long-term significance.
Having a very clear and well-understood guiding principle shared by the organization’s main spokespersons is vital to ensure coherence and swift reactions.
SNCF – Stéphanie Rismont, Director of Communication and Branding
The SNCF group is remarkably efficient, generating €40 billion in revenue and remaining profitable, thus contributing positively to France’s budget.
However, operational efficiency often clashes with preconceived notions, exacerbated by social conflicts and recurring strikes during holidays or festive seasons. In this context, it is essential to continuously work on the organization’s image to offset these persistent and severe disruptions that negatively impact perception.
A notable trend is the widespread involvement of employees as ambassadors for the company, aimed at humanizing its image and showcasing its commitments and reality more concretely.
a) An internal influencer strategy has been launched, with 80 railway workers sharing their professional pride and countering stereotypes. They actively communicate on social media, ahead of corporate communications.
b) The film Hexagonal, which achieved great success, was widely shared on social media by employees of the group, garnering 36,000 views.
This case study highlights a transition from the now-common ambassador approach to recognizing the need for fostering advocacy.
Though somewhat paradoxical for a company that must fight daily to maintain its image—tainted by frequent strikes from a militant portion of its workforce—it nonetheless represents a striking and symbolic gesture.
Île-de-France Mobilités – Xavier Guepet, Director of Communication
In a context of deregulation and the opening of the market to competition, Île-de-France Mobilités embarked on a bold initiative to establish itself as the unique brand for transport in Île-de-France.
The organization emphasized social media, particularly TikTok, to engage younger audiences. What sets their approach apart is the direct involvement of the company’s young interns, who were granted veto power over TikTok content, ensuring the generational relevance of their messages.
This strategy reflects a commitment to inclusion and pragmatism, acknowledging the expertise of young employees in digital communication.
La Poste Group – Marie-Aude Dubanchet, Director of Communication
Another excellent example of public service efficiency, La Poste and its subsidiaries (including international operations) employ 240,000 people. The group is profitable and contributes positively to France’s budget, by no less than €15 billion. (This achievement is remarkable, given that the volume of postal letters has dropped by nearly 70% over the past 15 years, profoundly impacting the organization’s business and structure).
Beyond rebranding the group at a corporate level, a robust communication strategy has been implemented on social media, specifically to address the intrinsic negative critiques associated with public services.
These efforts have paid off, successfully engaging younger audiences with a more modern tone and a healthy dose of self-deprecation—especially on TikTok, which now boasts 80,000 followers.
An interesting element of this approach is that social media is managed by the customer service team, fostering closer engagement with relevant themes and controversy management. Here too, young interns play an active role in creating and validating content, ensuring modernity and relatability that resonate with younger audiences.
Finally, on this occasion, the communications director confirms an observation about the paradox of CSR communication. This is an eminently important subject that must be fully invested in by the business world and, in this case, is taken very seriously by La Poste Group.
However, it is very difficult to communicate on this subject, on the results, without appearing to be greenwashing or simply generating attention or engagement. Ultimately, the group often feels very limited in its ability to make its sincere commitments heard, especially with tangible results.
Ministries of Territorial Partnerships, Ecological Transition, and Housing – Anaïs Lançon, Director of Communication
This role spans seven ministries, with a strong focus on awareness and behavioral evolution.
In terms of influence, they successfully initiated an original approach by developing a game on Fortnite aimed at younger audiences to highlight ecological behaviors.This initiative reflects a commitment to adapting to the communication modes of new generations. Naturally, they rely on influencers and increasingly target younger audiences, where ecological issues resonate more strongly.
However, a concerning observation has emerged: the youngest generation appears less attuned to ecological issues than the previous one—a somewhat disheartening realization.This highlights the need for constantly adapting communication strategies to maintain engagement with younger audiences on these crucial issues.
Their communication strategy employs both B2C and B2B approaches (via local authorities, mayors, etc.).
ENEDIS – Catherine Lescure, Executive Director of Communication and CSR
Manager of the electricity distribution network (including all providers),
ENEDIS has had to adapt significantly to decentralization efforts for renewable energies (e.g., wind energy, electric vehicle charging, individualized electricity consumption management via Linky meters), which represents enormous challenges.
One key project focuses on network resilience in the face of climatic disruptions or peaks in consumption. For example, the Olympics were a tremendous success as 100% of the electricity supplied came from the existing infrastructure without using backup or replacement generators (typically the norm).
Regarding resilience, using ambassadors and influencers is also a widespread strategy, enabling more proximate, impactful, and effective communication.
The Louvre Museum – Stéphanie Hussonnois-Bouhayati, Director of External Relations and Communication
As a public institution with only 40% of its funding from public subsidies, the Louvre must innovate constantly to attract and retain visitors. Sixty percent of its private funding comes from visitors, individual donors, corporate patrons, and event activities.
The communication department works to modernize the museum's image while preserving its historical prestige. The challenge lies in creating experiences that encourage repeat visits while developing strategic partnerships to expand the Louvre’s influence in France and internationally.
The Louvre is an exceptional global brand where a communication strategy focused on partnerships and exploring new brand territories is crucial. It offers a fascinating playground for communicators.
Here, everything must be coordinated and aligned despite very small teams.
Business France – Julien Landfried, Director of Communications and Public Affairs
As a state operator (1,400 employees), Business France helps SMEs and mid-sized companies export and encourages foreign businesses to invest in France.
Issues of awareness, image, and reputation are vital to enhancing the attractiveness of the French economy and promoting SME exports. This new approach is thriving, driven by a strong and modernized communication strategy.
Government Information Service – Michaël Nathan, Director General
The key challenges involve understanding public service missions and analyzing public opinion to provide context.
From this analysis arises the need for a precise communication strategy, which includes using diverse channels effectively and adopting tailored approaches for greater impact.
There is clearly a gap between public perception and the reality of actions taken. Marketing these actions is essential to make them more understandable and impactful. Like all other public institutions, partnerships and intermediaries are necessary to amplify momentum.
Caisse des Dépôts Group – Sophie Quatrehomme, Director of Communication
As a sovereign fund and manager of projects of general and economic interest, the group has broken with traditional approaches to public institution communication by promoting bottom-up communication to foster collaboration. This approach contrasts sharply with conventional top-down methods.
Here, too, we see the emergence of an influencer strategy to align with everyday digital realities, with TikTok usage showing significant growth.
An Example of Effective Influencer Use: Authenticity and Depth (Inclusion Case)
(within a private environnement).
Widely acclaimed by internet French users (3 million organic views in less than 24 hours) and by the press, Buzzman (the agency) wins the Grand Prix de l’influence with a campaign centered around a film in which artist Bilal Hassani is forced to remove his makeup to take an ID photo.
The L’Oréal brand thus reaffirms its advocacy for diversity.
A Bilal Hassani stripped of all his finery and revealing, as rarely as the singer and icon of the LGBT community has done, his true face. The Buzzman agency succeeded in this tour de force with a campaign, “The True ID Card,” which made noise on social media last December, generating 3 million organic views in less than 24 hours for the shocking video of the campaign. To orchestrate this, NYX Professional Makeup, which entrusts its advertising to Publicis and influencer contracts to Woô, called upon Buzzman.
Conclusion
The analysis of communication strategies employed by French public institutions reveals a profound transformation in the communication landscape. Faced with contemporary challenges, these organizations have demonstrated remarkable adaptability, embracing innovative approaches while remaining true to their public service mission.
Convergence of Public and Private Practices
One clear observation emerges: the boundaries between public and private sector communication strategies are blurring. Public institutions are now adopting techniques long considered the domain of private companies, while adapting them to their specific constraints and values. This convergence reflects an awareness of the need for more dynamic communication, closer to citizens, and more aligned with the expectations of a hyperconnected society.
The Challenge of Authenticity
In an information-saturated world, authenticity has become a key value. Public institutions face the challenge of communicating their actions—especially regarding CSR—without falling into the trap of greenwashing or superficial messaging. The example of La Poste Group perfectly illustrates this difficulty: how can sincere commitments and tangible results be highlighted without arousing skepticism?
Technology in Service of Citizen Engagement
Innovative use of technology, such as the Fortnite initiative by ministries to educate young people about ecological behavior, demonstrates the potential of creative approaches to reach traditionally hard-to-engage audiences. These experiences pave the way for new forms of citizen engagement, where the line between entertainment and education becomes blurred.
The Generational Challenge
A concerning trend has emerged regarding ecological awareness: the youngest generation appears less engaged on these issues than the previous one. This highlights the importance of constantly renewing and adapting communication strategies to resonate with the concerns and information consumption habits of younger audiences.
Towards More Inclusive and Participatory Communication
The growing involvement of employees, particularly young interns, in content creation and validation marks a shift toward more inclusive and participatory communication models. This approach not only enhances the relevance of messages but also strengthens employees’ sense of belonging and engagement.
Partnerships as a Strategic Lever
The development of strategic partnerships, as illustrated by the Louvre Museum, is emerging as a major axis for extending the influence and reach of public institutions. These collaborations not only increase visibility but also allow for the exploration of new brand and innovation territories.
Future OutlookAt the dawn of this new era of public communication, several challenges and opportunities are on the horizon:
Balancing Modernity and Tradition: Institutions must continue to innovate while preserving the core values of public service.
Large-Scale Personalization: Increased use of data will enable more targeted and relevant communication, while raising ethical concerns about privacy protection.
Reactivity and Crisis Management: In a world where information circulates instantly, the ability to respond quickly and effectively to crises will be crucial.
Impact Measurement: Developing tools to precisely evaluate the impact of communication strategies on public perception and engagement will become essential.
In conclusion, French public institutions are at a crossroads in their communication history. They must continue to innovate, adapt, and reinvent themselves to remain relevant and effective in a constantly evolving media landscape.
Future success will depend on their ability to maintain a delicate balance between modernity and tradition, transparency and discretion, engagement and adherence to their public service mission.
In this pursuit, communication will no longer be merely a tool for disseminating information but a true lever for transformation and citizen engagement.
Looking forward to future exchanges, any comments are welcome...
Olivier F.
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