How Violette Dorange's social media exploded
His CM talks about the ingredients of his success, in terms of storytelling, formats and frequency.
Hello there!
As we've (finally) come to the end of the icy month of February and are finally back in the sunshine, I've taken the opportunity to share with you on Instagram a roundup of everything I've been enjoying over the last few weeks: restaurant finds, tried and tested shows, wine tastings that I'm continuing and even a behind-the-scenes look at a brainstorm on a new Komando project.
I'm also thinking about training formats and I'd be curious to know what subjects you'd most like/need to learn about (if there are others, don't hesitate to email me):
Enjoy your reading!
🫡 Kéliane — Mail / Instagram / Linkedin
How Violette Dorange's social media exploded: feedback from her CM
In short - 256 million video views of the race, +1.4 million new subscribers (she had 'only' 30,000 subscribers 6 months ago), 14 million likes and comments... It's been said before, but the youngest entrant in the history of the Vendée Globe has made her mark with her authentic and unfiltered communication. Her CM, David Lupion, shares what he believes are the ingredients for this success.
Why it matters - What I've learnt from it :
A post = a story, to entertain, inspire or convey emotions: "I said to him: basically, if you change your sail, nobody cares; on the other hand, if you tell me about the emotion you had when you changed your sail, I'm interested (...) My aim is to speak to as many people as possible. What makes me dream about sailing isn't just the sporting aspect, it's the adventure, everything that comes out of it and particularly the emotion. (...) During the CIC transatlantic race, she sent us a very simple video in which she told us about being scared by waves like she'd never seen before. We actually reworked that content a little bit, and it got a million views at the time!
Quality > quantity : we learn that she was one of the sailors who published the least during the race, sometimes going 4 or 5 days without a post.
Reels built like mini-scenarios, with a punchy start, a gripping atmosphere and an ending that makes you want to see more.
→ David Lupion's Linkedin post and his interview
The power of "What if?
In short — What if station vending machines were filled with snacks... that weren't stuffed with additives, sugar or salt like 95% of them are? Julia Chapon, the co-founder of Yuka, came up with a clever format on Linkedin (even if a single visual instead of a carousel would have had more impact): she took a photo of a current vending machine in a station, added the scores of all the products and then projected what a machine full of top-rated products might look like.
Why it matters — Because this format makes it possible to show the before and after at a glance and, above all, that it could be replicated for other leaders and other sectors to project and defend a vision.
What would our hospitals really be like without healthcare workers from immigrant backgrounds?
In short — Following the AfD's historic score in the last general election, some hospitals launched the #pflegeistebunt movement (= "care is coloured") to show the impact that the departure of immigrant carers from their departments would have. The idea is quite simple: gather all the carers in the hall, ask the immigrant carers to leave the field... to realise the indispensable part they represent.
Why it matters — Once again, this is one of the mechanisms that works best: the demo, in just a few seconds. And here too, it could be replicated in other sectors to demonstrate a contribution or, on the contrary, to denounce (e.g. the lack of women or diversity in a sector or in management bodies).
→ See examples of viral videos here, here or here
Lobbying... via an alarm clock
In short — Three years after the start of the war in Ukraine, the NGO Razom has called on American and European decision-makers who it believes are not sufficiently defending the country's independence at a crucial time in the negotiations. The idea? To make them hear the air raid sirens that have been sounding an average of 42 times a day in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion to warn civilians of strikes, and which are part of everyday life for millions of Ukrainians. How do they do this? With an... alarm clock, Air Raid, connected directly to Ukraine's airborne warning system, to make them hear that distressing sound that they hope they won't be able to ignore.
Why it matters — Because the choice of object is relevant and has strong symbolic significance (both the alarm clock to rouse politicians from their passivity, for the fact of sounding the alarm and for the "signature" and anxiety-provoking noise of sirens) and because the physical aspect allows the NGO to make a "stunt", by going to hand over the alarm clocks to European and American politicians.
Linkedin's first fictitious company page
In short — Lumon Industries, the (fake) biotech company at the heart of the original Apple series Severance, has had its own Linkedin page since its first season in 2022, a first for the platform. All the corporate codes have been respected and the page looks very much like that of a real company, with information about its employees and offices (including a tour of the premises by one of the characters).
Why it matters — You may think it's gimmicky, but the page has over 70k subscribers and far from ridiculous engagement rates, with between 3k and 7k likes on its posts. Admittedly, Linkedin's algorithm penalises corporate pages, but the main benefit for the series is to feed its first circle of fans with exclusive content and easter eggs. This is particularly the case for the release of the second season, which sees the arrival of a new character, Miss Huong, whose role viewers don't yet know precisely... but they can find clues on Linkedin, with posts welcoming the company to its new employee.
POV in Pralus bakeries
In short — A year ago, Ulysse Pralus, the youngest son of the family that founded Maison Pralus (famous for its pralulines!), launched his first bakery in Lyon. He is launching a 6-episode mini-documentary format on Instagram, in which a videographer follows him around his lab for 2 days to show what goes on behind the scenes.
Why it matters — I have a number of reservations, particularly about the short immersion time and the micro-cutting into 6 episodes, which leaves you wanting more in the 1st video. But in spite of everything, it's a format I'm a big believer in for publicising personalities (managers, bosses etc.) to show their true face, on a daily basis, filming them over a long period of time so that they end up forgetting about the camera, where the viewer has the impression of being in their shoes and entering a world hitherto closed to the public, with the voice-over providing commentary and background, in an intimate tone.
To go further — In the other food formats I've enjoyed recently, there's also the one on Petit Bao (really effective for a restaurant to show both the atmosphere and the dishes) and a day with a coffee shop manager in Paris by le Bonbon (when on a restaurant?).
→ Watch the 1st episode, at 4am with Ulysse Pralus
IT MAY SEEM LIKE A DETAIL TO YOU, BUT...
🚂 How about reviving the emblematic posters of the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de l'Etat? - It's funny, this is a question I'm obsessed with: why did we abandon the cool posters of the famous PLM (Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée) or the Air France posters that made us travel so much more than the slick ads of recent years? Clearly I'm not the only one wondering. What about SNCF?
💘 The B2B surprise parcel full of love - For Valentine's Day, plant-based milk brand Oatly, true to its ever provocative tone, sent a box full of customised goodies to appeal to the purchasing and marketing departments of the boxes they were targeting. You can no longer say that B2B necessarily rhymes with boring.
💬 Trying it without the bullshit on Linkedin - The boss of my childhood brand, DDP, joins the platform and explains: " If I start posting here, it's not to talk about entrepreneurial bullshit. It's because DDP is writing a new chapter, and I want to share it. I'm going to talk about the trials and tribulations, the successes, the headaches, the moments of rush and all the things that make a project like this stand up or falter, sometimes . Interesting promise, and something to look forward to.
👸🏻 The queen of crisis communication - Harassed on the internet after posting a video in a red bodysuit deemed too sexy, Léna Situations didn't let it get her down and instead chose... to bounce back with a video reminiscent of a 1980s fitness ad in which, dressed in the famous red bodysuit, she offers a 10% discount on her entire boutique.
⏪️ What if... there were a Museum of Patriarchy? - That's the original idea that some creative minds had when they came up with a fictitious campaign for the charity En Avant Toute(s), which fights for gender equality and an end to sexist and sexual violence. The idea was to ensure that by 2035 patriarchy would be nothing but a bad memory... and therefore a museum.
🤳🏻 The Aveyron mayor who set TikTok alight with his parody of Bref - Jean-Philippe Kéroslian, the mayor of Onet-le-Château, wanted to question Emmanuel Macron about the drop in state subsidies for his municipality. His idea? A (homemade) video à la Bref that got 250k views, 20k likes... and above all received an avalanche (400+) of positive comments.
🎞️ +368% views - That's the explosion in the number of views on Les Echos' YouTube channel in January 2025 compared with January 2024. Mediarama sums up the 8 key reasons for this success, the 2 main ones for me being: 1) entrusting the keys to the truck to young people who know how to talk to young people, headed up by a former Konbini employee; 2) concentrating on a single type of content: success stories or company crashes (like "L'histoire de...", one of Gaspard G's signature formats).
🤓 "We had this Ben&Jerry's vision of activism: the idea that laughter can get across societal messages that are more engaging than if they're said in a serious way" - Romain Jolivet, La Vie's CMO, talks in an interview about how he built up the recognisable tone and provocative opé' that have become the hallmark of the plant-based alternatives brand.
🎬 Ad placement in the end credits - Spanish insurer Abanca has just launched "Credits in Action", a campaign that hacks the end credits of action films by listing the injuries suffered by the characters (fractures, cuts, bruises etc.)... to remind us that even heroes need good health insurance. It's a clever move to take advantage of under-used advertising space, at a time when viewers are still connected to the film, without the heavy-handedness of the traditional ad break. The same mechanism was used by Partners Life, a life insurance company in New Zealand.
🍴 Netflix bites, Netflix's first IRL restaurant - After a successful first trial in Los Angeles, the streaming platform is launching its restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip (whose DA reminds me a lot of Bao Family's!) for a year, where fans can eat dishes straight out of their favourite series. A fundamental trend in the importance of immersive retailing.
🥖 Le Mercier Daily Café - Cosmetics brand Laura Mercier opened a pop up café in the heart of New York for 2 days. .. 100% Parisian cliché, with baguettes, customised newspaper dispensers(I really like the giant version) and takeaway coffees. I still believe that this kind of pop up will multiply (see the Levis coffee shop during this fashion week!) and are clever at creating experiences that people remember and that can surprise, create emotions, show a brand's DNA and universe...
That's all for today! See you on Tuesday 18 March for the next issue!
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