Le Yaouanc Cat

Formely of Elf Aquitaine (Total)? Catherine joined the chamber in 1993, at which time the chamber’s network totalled 200 members.

 Since 1993 she has spearheaded a renaissance of the chamber and today the membership is more than 900 organisations, ranging from large multinational companies to to small SMEs and entrepreneurs.

 Born in Rennes, Catherine graduated from the Ecole de Diplomatie de Dijon, Bretonne de St Malo. Elle est la Belle fille de Jacques Mouclier Président d’Honneur La Fédération Française de la Couture, du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode.

A distinctive & powerful brand presence is one of the most influential factors in convincing consumers to buy products.

Brand messaging is essential in developing a powerful enough presence to ensure consumers consider brands at point of purchase, and brands can’t achieve this without a recognizable equity. It’s this equity that enables consumers to relate to brands and their products. It doesn’t matter what they’re selling, consumers won’t part with their cash unless they’re aware of what the brand stands for. As it gets harder for brands to achieve unique cut through, they are turning to famous individuals to drive their messaging.

Ambassadors play a key role in not only promoting awareness, but gaining customer confidence and achieving brand connection. The ambassador’s character should almost be at one with the equity. When a brand gets this right the results are phenomenal, achieving a powerful edge over competitors. Read the rest of this entry »

Un rapport de l’institut économique privé COE-Rexecode paru à l’occasion du G8 en mai dernier indique « qu’Internet est à l’origine d’un quart de la croissance en France« . Son impact global sur la croissance atteint 32% en Allemagne, et même 37% aux États-Unis!

Ces chiffres établis sur l’année 2008 montrent que le poids du numérique dans l’économie française est de 4,7% du PIB, comme chez nos voisins allemands, contre 7,3% aux USA.

La France, et l’Europe en général, accuse donc un net retard dans la guerre économique qui l’oppose aux USA. Read the rest of this entry »

Plus de 60% des internautes vérifient la réputation d’une entreprise et de ses produits avant d’acheter. Le niveau des ventes, l’effort de prospection et la motivation du service commercial est directement impacté par l’e-réputation.

Qu’il s’agisse d’un acte d’achat, d’une candidature à un poste ou de la préparation d’un rendez-vous professionnel, les internautes ont pris pour habitude de vérifier l’e-réputation en tapant dans les moteurs de recherche le nom d’une marque, d’un produit, d’une personne ou d’une entreprise.

Ainsi une bonne image ou une mauvaise réputation a un impact direct et immédiat sur les ventes, le coût et la qualité des recrutements, les partenariats et le développement du réseau professionnel. Read the rest of this entry »

Pitfalls to avoid when setting up a business in France and also what the FBCCI can offer by way of support to expat businesses

WELCOME TO FRANCE

In the era of globalization of business exchanges, France is the UK’s third largest export market and third largest supplier. Furthermore, both the UK and France are the most favoured countries in Europe for foreign investments. France offers a tremendous potential to British Entrepreneurs and more precisely to British expatriates moving and settling in France. Read the rest of this entry »

India has 62.000 ultra high net worth households, with an average net worth of 12 million euros. In five years, the number of such households would more than triple to 219.000, each household with a net woth of about 16 million euros.

A recent Merrill Lynch Capgemini Wealth management report estimated the number of individuals with a net of 700.000 euros at 126.700. Read the rest of this entry »

The company declined to confirm or deny The Sunday Times report, but said it would be working with unions to make itself « smaller and more efficient over time, » in a statement.

It is unclear how many marketing roles could be affected and the company declined to say how many marketers it employed. In 2004, it had 360 marketing roles, before announcing plans to reduce their number by 40% to 50%.

It already has a three-year agreement with the Communication Workers Union to reduce numbers by 8,000 a year to 2013. Read the rest of this entry »

Networking is a vital element when trying to find a job. Do you know the right people?

So you know it is important to have the 2 Q’s as you build out your network: Quality and Quantity. But have you considered the importance of having a well-rounded network?

In this labor market, having a strong network is critical to your professional survival. There are plenty of tips and articles on where to find people, how and when to connect to them and even what you need to say to attract and maintain your network. This article focuses on WHO should be in your network. Read the rest of this entry »

A study has revealed that almost 50% of UK companies prohibit employees from using social media at work.

The research, carried out by Lewis Communications and HCL Technologies, found that from the 2,500 businesses surveyed, 48% ban their workers from posting updates on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites.

So, whilst previous research has shown that social networking should be encouraged at work as it boosts moral and improves productivity, it seems that many companies still take a dim view of employees mixing business with pleasure. Read the rest of this entry »

Depuis toujours, HEC s’enorgueillit de former des as de la finance et des champions du marketing. Or, la faillite économique actuelle ne découle-t-elle pas pour une large part du triomphe de cet hypercapitalisme que les diplômés de cette institution ont justement appris à mettre en oeuvre et à servir ? Il ne s’agit pas,  de stigmatiser une école, mais d’interroger l’esprit des grandes écoles de gestion et de management : l’enseignement des affaires est-il adapté aux enjeux sociaux, environnementaux ?

Quelle est sa part de responsabilité dans les désordres que nous vivons ?

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dangers of Being Unfocused

Whatever market you’re in, you’ve likely got a lot of competition and static standing between you and the consumer. Narrowing your focus to one specific demographic or slice of the marketplace gives potential customers a reason to notice you in the rest of the fray.

« If you’re not differentiating yourself in the marketplace, what happens is the consumer looks at price as being the motivator, » says Catherine leyaouanc, Manager of the Franco British-Chamber of Commerce in Paris » Read the rest of this entry »

OPINION LEADER IMPACT ON ESTABLISHING BRANDS Building a « brand » requires significant discussion, planning, and a real discipline in terms of execution. And, while there is no one right way, certain strategies can be more efficient and potentially more effective than others.

If you are a new company or division that has limited resources, I would definitely pursue a very specific strategy. Read the rest of this entry »

Circular Economy in China: Moving from Rhetoric to Implementation

A new economy as important as the Sustainable Development is born. As the resourcing decreasing we need to find new material and what more easy than to recycle those we are manufacturing.

 The Chinese were the first to look at the Circular Economy. A report was prepared in support of the work commissioned by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to establish an indicator system that helps monitor progress towards the objectives of the circular economy (CE). For the purposes of this paper it has been adopted the working definition of CE referenced on NDRC’s Cleaner Production site: Read the rest of this entry »

Etre démotivé n’est ni une faute ni une fatalité, c’est juste un état plus ou moins passager auquel on peut remédier. Il faut simplement accepter de travailler sur soi. Nos experts vont vous aider…

 Et vous, ça va ? Posée cent fois par jour au détour des couloirs, la question appelle habituellement une salve molle de réponses attendues.

Objectifs de vente, gestion du recrutement, panade du sous-traitant. Pas question d’avouer : “Ce matin, j’ai eu du mal à me tirer du lit.” Ou : “Je me demande ce que je fais encore là…” Le baromètre de l’humeur au boulot a toujours joué les montagnes russes. 2009 ne déroge pas à la tradition. Read the rest of this entry »

Hardly a day goes by without retailers inventing fresh and novel ways to deliver their merchandise at a discount.

Among those moving away from the simple « 50 per cent off » or « buy one, get one free » tactic is Gap, which the other day in America let visitors to its online site name their price for khakis. The idea was to customise the discount instead of making the kind of one-size-fits-all offer with which consumers are constantly bombarded. Read the rest of this entry »

In April 2011, after months of rumour and speculation, Sarah Burton was revealed as the designer of the wedding dress for Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge.

The dress was an ivory silk and lace, long-sleeved, V-necked gown bearing a two-metre train – and was accessorised with a veil made of layers of soft, ivory silk tulle trimmed with hand-embroidered flowers.

 Burton said: « It has been the experience of a lifetime to work with Catherine Middleton to create her wedding dress, and I have enjoyed every moment of it. It was such an incredible honour to be asked, and I am so proud of what we and the Alexander McQueen team have created. Read the rest of this entry »

Wherever it originates and whoever thinks it up — with the money and the talent required to start pushing that idea forward. Prospective innovators should be able to get fast, easy access to experimental capital that has been set aside in the company for funding breakout ideas. And they should also get access to human skills — to a few smart people who can help advance, develop, and test the idea, perhaps by building a prototype.

An excellent example is Shell GameChanger — a companywide process at the oil giant that solicits and funds breakthrough ideas from across the global enterprise as well as beyond. GameChanger is open to anybody, anywhere in the company, and also to people and organizations outside the corporate boundaries.

Read the rest of this entry »

What are your top three “must do’s” for breakthrough innovation success?

I would say Number One is to try to generate ideas that are truly radical. Companies can no longer hope to significantly grow revenues by coming up with a slightly improved version of the same old thing and then selling it to the same old customers through the same old channels in the same old way.

I consider an idea truly radical if it has the power to dramatically reset customer expectations and behaviors; or if it has the power to change the basis for competitive advantage; or if it has the power to change industry economics in some significant manner.

Read the rest of this entry »

Kate et William ont fait preuve, une nouvelle fois, d’une grande modernité en bousculant le protocole très strict de Buckingham, insistant pour choisir la majorité de leurs 1900 invités.

Tout le monde se demande à Londres pourquoi Isabella Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe fait partie de la liste des invités au mariage du prince William et de Kate Middleton.

Cette jolie blonde est, il est vrai, issue d’une très bonne famille, comme l’indique son patronyme à rallonge, mais elle est surtout l’une des ex-petites amies du futur époux, comme trois autres jeunes filles figurant elles aussi sur la liste qui suscite tant de convoitises. Read the rest of this entry »

The pay bonus for working at a « Too Big to Fail » bank is only getting bigger.

Outsized paychecks are often cited as one of the reasons for the financial crisis. So what are the executives at the biggest banks doing?  They are upping their pay. In fact, pay at the big banks is not rising just for CEOs and investment bankers but for everyone. Read the rest of this entry »