What is the main role of brand communication, according to Aude Margoil Voisin? Develop and highlight a brand and boost its image. Indeed, the groupe Meeschaert, specialist in private management and Family Office, recently redesigned its visual identity.
How to carry out a graphic refresh, while preserving the historical and founding elements of a brand? How can you evolve your image, without revolutionizing it?
???? To find out, we went to meet Aude Margoil Voisin, Director Group communication Meeschaert and member of Club We Are COM. An inspiring interview that reminds us that brand communication serves brand singularity.
Hello Aude, as Communications Director of the Meeschaert group, what definition would you give to brand communication?
A brand only exists if it is present in the minds of its audiences as much internal thatexternal. Also, thebrand communication is all the actions aimed at developing its notoriety, deployed through a range of levers and channels.
Furthermore, I am convinced that brand communication must highlight the uniqueness of brands, especially in a sector as confidential, competitive and changing as that of private management.
Meeschaert is a historic French company, founded in 1935 in Roubaix by the family of the same name, specializing in private banking, asset management and Family Office. This family company has always benefited from a very positive and high-end image, in particular thanks to its committed and responsible actions.
From now on, Meeschaert is a member of the LFPI group – La Financière Patrimoine Investissement. Our main role as communicators today consists of developing and highlighting our brand and boosting our image., in order to bring visibility to our value proposition amplified by the Group's range of solutions while preserving its DNA, its roots and its history.
And who says branded COM, also says employer branded COM. In my opinion, It is by developing the notoriety of a brand and communicating its intrinsic DNA that pride of belonging and employee loyalty develop.
I am convinced that brand communication must highlight the uniqueness of brands.
How is your Communications Department organized?
Our Communications Department has a communications manager and a cross-functional project manager, a DTP manager and a manager digital and multimedia in charge of the entire digital ecosystem of the Group: websites, Social Media, the foundation’s website… and audiovisual and photographic content.
Our communications are managed from the Group's Paris headquarters. However, to carry out the most complex projects, but also to support activities in the regions, we regularly call on service providers who are truly trusted partners.
Finally, in a process of constant development of skills, we are committed to regularly welcoming interns and work-study students to our team.
Meeschaert is evolving its brand identity, can you tell us more about the background of this project?
To develop our visibility and notoriety, following our integration into the LFPI group, we have gradually boosted our communications. We had to carry out a graphic refresh in particular, while preserving the historical and founding elements of the Group. This “rejuvenation” appeared to us more like an evolution than a revolution.
More concretely, in-depth work was carried out on the visual identity, with the aim of giving it some pep and fitting it into its times. Side logo. , we took the side of preserve the heritage curve of the visual, while nuanced its symbolism. Previously, this represented the pen and evoked the signature. From now on, this curve is intended to be both protective and reassuring and a vector of dynamism and movement.
It is very interesting to look at the symbolism and inspirational territory of a curve, this form created both by Man and by nature, which symbolizes the cycle, precision and expertise linked to our consultancy house.
Finally, our new visual identity ideally responds to our current issues. It embodies the Group's expertise, equips our teams by providing them with accessible and visible supports while bringing more omnichannel to our content.
This “rejuvenation” appeared to us more like an evolution than a revolution.
How are you deploying this new identity?
The deployment is done over time. Today and more and more, it has become essential for companies to be pragmatic and keen to respect their commitments CSR. Communication must be deployed sparingly. Moreover, at Meeschaert, we pay particular attention to the sustainable transition in our daily actions and therefore obviously to our consumption of stationery and documents in particular.
Communication must be deployed sparingly.
What content strategy have you adopted? How can you address a clientele as specific as yours in a relevant way? What are its particularities and how do you adapt to them?
Indeed, our clientele is quite confidential since our core target mainly consists of business leaders and senior executives, large families – historical clients and non-profit organizations.
How to communicate with these audiences? Above all, by being present on the fundamentals. It is extremely important that we are able to explain our businesses and our expertise to all of our clients and to provide content on the content of the Maison's support and advice. I am firmly convinced that explaining in an educational manner constitutes the first and essential step in communicating with our audiences.
Thus, in this educational approach, we support our clients on wealth and tax issues by providing them with numerous contents: infographics, articles, videos accessible via our websites and social networks, etc.
The infographics and audiovisual content are essential supports and very easy to consume while providing clear explanations. However, it is important to distribute them regularly and precisely so as not to risk saturation. At Meeschaert, we have chosen to set up real meetings with our customers on digital channels and social networks. We respond to a dual policy with obvious in-depth work to offer basic content and responsiveness to meet current events or the expectations of our customers.
At the same time, we rely on quite powerful press relations strategies, which energize and accelerate each of our communication campaigns.
On the internal COM side, Meeschaert has put in place a change support system. For what reasons ? What communication actions result from this?
It is within the framework of the merger of the Meeschaert, Mandarine Gestion and LFPI Gestion teams, all three companies of the LFPI group, within our new head office on avenue Kléber, that it seemed essential to us to deploy a change support system.
All these changes mark a fairly emblematic stage in the history of the brand and in the lives of its employees. Our device therefore has for vocation to inform and engage. To gain buy-in from the intern, it is necessary to listen to them and answer all their questions.
The steering committee dedicated to the project identifies the major markers and Communication proposes and implements actions which are certainly quite traditional: personalized content, a regular Moving Letter, quarterly web conferences which are an opportunity to take stock of the major current topics - called “M.Live”, a welcome system for employees with welcome box, welcome cocktail and a reinforced presence of HR, logistics and Communication teams to support the installation…
Why avenue Kléber? So that this new place of life brings us together but above all resembles us. Our headquarters is today located in the golden triangle of the 16th arrondissement, an emblematic district which will allow us to reconnect with our customers and also with the organization of prestigious events within our premises.
To gain buy-in from the intern, it is necessary to listen to them and answer all their questions.
In the years to come, what do you think will be the major developments in brand communication?
What is certain is that brand communication will continue to evolve. Brands will need to position themselves more, make commitments and (re)give meaning. The challenge, both internally and externally, will therefore consist of asserting and making known its values, its missions and above all its brand uniqueness.
I think that, with this perspective of commitment and transparency, CSR will further integrate all ecosystems and business strategies. Today, it seems to me that the subject still suffers from a certain lack of legitimacy and therefore of means.
Furthermore, I would say that the future of communication will be omnichannel and transversal. The boundaries between the different disciplines in the sector are tending to disappear, in favor of co-construction with multiple expertises.
Finally and obviously, we will have to learn to work with and thanks to artificial intelligence. This is perhaps the biggest challenge of tomorrow's communication. 😊
Finally, what advice would you give to We Are COM readers?
You have to learn to trust yourself. Follow your professional instinct! And above all, have fun, both in the development and deployment of your communication campaigns, never forget to have fun.
3 things to know about Aude
Her daily source of inspiration? Nature, reading, exhibitions, meetings… Aude is inspired by everything around her. She advocates the notion of test and learn, where everything is experience through daily learning.
Her favorite ad, past or present? His favorite ad from yesterday is the famous Perrier TV spot The Lioness, in which a woman moves in the savannah and when faced with a lion, begins to roar louder than him and scares him away even though they are both thirsty. JP Goude's campaign was able to break the codes in an aesthetic and powerful way.
More recently, Aude was seduced by the poster campaign of the Val de Loire Region, his cradle, in the Paris metro.
His passions and his commitments? She is passionate about cooking and traveling, two hobbies that most often come together. On the charitable side, Aude is committed to young people, particularly within the association 1 Shopping Bag for 1 Student.
