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On June 1, 2015, Safran launched a communication campaign on the theme of innovation. Pascale Dubois, Executive Vice President, Communications and Philanthropy, explains the objectives of this campaign and how it was built.
Why launch a marketing campaign about Innovation?
In 2014, Safran joined the list of the “World’s top 500 brands”, and that of the “50 most prestigious brands in France” published by the Brand Finance consultancy firm. So the Group is becoming more widely known, but we still need to show our particular features, to promote our core business and culture, especially to the general public: innovation is part of the Group’s DNA, it’s where most of our companies were born and how they were built.
Our intention was therefore to create a message in which all of our employees recognize themselves. As innovation is an integral part of our values, and since we encourage all of Safran’s 69,000 men and women to be a driving force for innovation, we wanted this campaign to look like them, and to come from them.
The poster that is at the heart of today’s campaign is representative of Innovation by Safran in many ways. Not least because through it, we lean into a different future, where travel and journeys have become easier thanks to the technologies the Group has developed. But also because it has been designed from messages given by our employees, from the advice of our engineers and experts. It marks a break from our usual way of communicating, as our products and services also break away from the usual ways of industry and people’s daily lives.
How has this campaign been constructed?
One of the first stages of the project took place during the Innovation Awards 2014. The ceremony was preceded by a workshop attended by people from different Safran companies, businesses and divisions. Our aim was to assemble a representative panel from all the Group’s employees. We also carried out numerous internal interviews during this period.
We gave them the chance to express what innovation in the Group meant to them, and the ideas collected allowed us to create a definition of “Innovation by Safran”, that became our working basis for developing the campaign as a whole.
Through this working method, we synthesized all aspects of innovation in the Group. The chosen slogan, “We bring the future to your doorstep” therefore evokes our mission: to contribute to a world on the move, imagining tomorrow’s journeys, anticipating our customers’ needs and the way of life in a few years’ time.
The Havas marketing agency supported us throughout the process, from the workshop during the Innovation Awards 2014 to the design of the messages and visuals for the campaign you see today.
How is the “Innovation by Safran” campaign rolled out?
We have chosen to broadcast this campaign gradually, on several media in parallel. Full deployment is planned for the International Paris Air Show, which starts on June 15.
The campaign was unveiled on June 1 on our website, with the publication of a banner on the homepage. On that same day, the front of our head office was covered with a huge sheet showing the campaign visual and a similar poster was displayed at Porte de la Chapelle, on the Paris Ring Road.
In the first half of June, you will also see our campaign in the press, in national and international newspapers such as Le Figaro or L’Express, and in more specialized publications such as the French magazine Science & Vie or Flight Daily News, which will be distributed at the Paris Air Show. Websites and mobile apps of many newspapers will also highlight our visual.
Finally, the International Paris Air Show will be an opportunity for us to give full scope to the campaign. As well as the posters, our whole stand will present the main message: it will showcase the products and services created thanks to the innovative spirit our employees demonstrate every day.
