63 / 330
3
3
STRATEGIC DRIVERS FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
4. Building closer customer relations: rebranding Saint-Gobain
63
SAINT-GOBAIN
- REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2016
Building closer customer relations:
4.
rebranding Saint-Gobain
THE CHALLENGES OF A STRONG BRAND
4.1
of markets and customers. The customers who deal directly
with the Group (most often assemblers, manufacturers and
solutions are used, Saint-Gobain serves a very large number
experience of using them (housing owners or tenants,
automobile drivers, and consumers in the broadest sense).
trade professionals) are not always those who recommend its
solutions (architects and consultancy firms) or who have
Given the wide range of areas in which its products and
individuals now becoming key stakeholders in the
construction and renovation market. The Group has to deal
the choice of materials. The boundary between professionals
and private individuals is being blurred, with private
with a broader range of customer contacts than previously.
decisions, they may have a decisive influence, for example, on
Today, the voice of the end customer is being heard more
strongly: better informed, more involved in purchasing
the users of its products, such as building occupants,
automobile drivers, and public transport users. By embedding
Today, Saint-Gobain is seeking to build closer relations with
end customer expectations in its value proposition, and
factoring in the change in the ways that information is
provided and decisions are made, Saint-Gobain is positioning
itself firmly as a B to C to B (Business to Client to Business)
brand.
potential end customers can find information on and
compare ranges and products, branding is a key factor for
identities – makes it easier for the Group to introduce its full
range of products and services to its audiences.
sustainable differentiation. Strong new branding for
Saint-Gobain – reflecting its corporate and commercial
Saint-Gobain has long relied on its decentralized
organizational structure, its brand recognition and the
insight into its customers’ needs in all markets. For the Group
to be directly relevant to the general public, though, it needs
strength of its activities throughout the world to drive its
development. These attributes provide it with a detailed
to have a strong brand to rely on. In the digital age, where
from 46% to 51%). The next brand awareness survey, of
10,000 construction professionals in 13 countries, will take
(an improvement in awareness of five percentage points,
place in 2017.
brand among all construction players had already
significantly improved compared with the first survey in 2011
The Group regularly measures the impact of the Saint-Gobain
brand with its target audiences. In 2014, awareness of the
Group’s subsidiaries and trade names. It also benefits
Saint-Gobain’s image as a recruiter, making the Group more
The assurance of a strong brand reflects positively on all the
visible and more attractive to potential applicants.
population. As an employer, Saint-Gobain also has a duty to
lead by example, and corporate social responsibility is
of the next few decades, such as climate change, increasing
scarcity of resources, urbanization, and a growing world
ways of working that encourage openness and
entrepreneurial spirit. Strengthening the brand and renewing
embedded in its strategy. Its employees are gearing up for
greater transparency of operation, and more collaborative
its content helps to give meaning and value to the work done
by every employee.
Saint-Gobain to position itself to meet the major challenges
The Group’s different audiences expect a brand like
NEW BRAND CONTENT
4.2
more generally, health.
world, where close to 90% of our time is spent in buildings or
cars, there is a need to design and build living places that are
and air quality) central to its strategy, as well as addressing
tomorrow's collective challenges. In an increasingly urbanized
appropriate environment affects productivity in the
workplace, cognitive capacities in places of learning, and
both more comfortable and more sustainable. A growing
number of studies and data show the extent to which an
us and the future of all. Today, the Group is making user
wellbeing and comfort (thermal, acoustic and visual comfort,
to create great living places and improve daily life. The
Group’s promise to its customers is to design, produce and
With its brand platform, Saint-Gobain has adopted a mission
distribute materials engineered for the wellbeing of each of