Arnaud Boissières takes the bean down
Everything starts from the desire of La Mie Câline, a Vendée bakery chain, to take advantage of the Vendée Globe, the local event par excellence, for its 2017 epiphany campaign. For this she thinks of beans in the colours of the sailing boats of the round the world race. A contact is made with the skipper Arnaud Boissières in order to rent the boat for promotional events. During the meeting, as David Giraudeau, general manager of La Mie Câline, said,"Arnaud had prepared his move well." The skipper, who was missing a title sponsor, had prepared pictures of the boat in the colours of La Mie Câline. 24 hours later, the contract was signed.
A triple objective: Employees - Franchisees - Consumers
The Vendée Globe is an element of local pride. La Mie Câline brings together all its employees behind Arnaud Boissières, going so far as to train them at Virtual Regatta. "I hope we don't lose too much productivity during the 3 months" jokes David Giraudeau.
Vis-à-vis its franchisees, La Mie Câline ensures thanks to the race a national visibility of the brand.
On the consumer side, the race around the world is an opportunity for promotional operations such as beans in patties, cookies or special edition Vendée Globe sandwiches.
A national visibility and all public
The Mie Câline franchise, which has a strong presence in western France, is less well known in eastern France. While it has been organising a basketball competition for years, which carries the brand's local roots, the national coverage of the Vendée Globe should enable the brand to increase its notoriety in France.
The race affects all audiences. For David Giraudeau, "The Vendée Globe is like Tintin, from 7 to 77 years old", a real asset for a consumer product.
The cost of a poster campaign
No official figures from La Mie Câline, but its general manager tells us that direct sponsorship costs as much as a national 4x3 poster campaign over 1.5 weeks. To this must be added as much indirect investment (events, distribution of cookies on the village...). For him, the return on investment will be there. A study of notoriety before and after the race should make it possible to know more.
A sequel to discuss
If David Giraudeau believes that sailing sponsorship should be long-term, the decision will have to be taken with the franchisees. A meeting with Arnaud Boissières's other sponsors will also make it possible to articulate a project with long-term visibility, an objective sought by both the skipper and his partners. Case to follow...
