L'Oréal Paris establishes itself as a world leader in cosmetics through luxurious branding and high advertising budgets for new products. Free disrupted the telecommunications industry in France with an affordable mobile phone plan with unlimited texts. Chanel represents a sophisticated and timeless image through its logo, celebrities, and fashion shows that are inspired by its founder Coco Chanel's personality.

1. 23
FRENCH BRANDS
REMARKABLE MARKETING EXAMPLES
JÉRÉMIE LORRAIN

2. 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 !

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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…

7. 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…

8. 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.

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. NRJ 13NRJ
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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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 »

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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…

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. WHAT’S YOURS ?
END…
JÉRÉMIE LORRAIN
is a French wellness entrepreneur, alumni representative & branding enthusiast