And assign their budget to Fred and Farid

A climate of suspicion today weigh on banks. ... The Bank, today, no longer, as before, to focus on the only banking floor. "It must have a societal discourse," insists Frédéric Oudéa, President of Société Générale, when it refers to new communication campaign, "develop whole team spirit", signed by agency Fred and Farid.

The mark, which spent EUR 60 million for its communication in 2010 (source Kantar media), seems to reconnect with his past - in the 1980s, already, his creations proclaimed "Let us join our talent." Nostalgia for a "before" coinciding with the days happy and confident Before the sub-prime crisis and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. Before the case Kerviel, in 2008. And, finally, before the controversy in early 2009, where Daniel button, President of the Socgen at the time, and Frédéric Oudéa, Director financial, had been forced to renounce their stock under the pressure of public opinion.

The public opinion. A new deal with the banking communication must compose, hard. And, for the moment at least, rather harm than good. "His defiance is explained by the conjugation of a mistrust growing and generalized to the institutions and the economic crisis", Arthur Sa'dun, President of Publicis France analysis. However, after a stubborn denial phase, where the banking communication was unaware with joy international crisis, banks have not spared efforts since 2008. With a simple goal: restoring public trust capital erosion. Eric Delannoy, President of Talents Only decrypts: "much mistrust is based on a problem of pedagogy: the client often has the perception of a cost disproportionate banking pricing.". In short, behind beautiful images, the brutality of the reality.

Morality, after the arrogance of the beginning of the 2000s, humility. Large euphoric campaigns, how tales of fairies, has substituted the concern to anchor again the "responsible" Bank in the real economy and to give the floor to close advisers of customers. The squirrel of the Caisse d'Epargne (54,758 million invested in 2010) retreated to the edge of the legs and figure than in logo. Crédit Agricole (90,391 million spent in 2010) referred to "Podium" his buff banker of tap.

But the shift proved to be insufficient. And the last few months, almost all of the major institutions (BNP Paribas, LCL and CIC excepted) gave their competition agencies. Managed by Ogilvy for 10 years, the Caisse d'Epargne has organized a match, holding, said its management, that, "since ten years, Caisses metamorphosed without that this mutation appears in their communication. BDDP & Fils has collected the budget.

Even approach to société Générale. "We initially chose to work with our structures of the time, Saatchi (Group Publicis, Editor's note) and Harrison & Wolf (TBWA), said Caroline Guillaumin, Director of communications." But the result did not meet us. We have therefore chosen to be broken with all classic banking communication codes. "And assign their budget to Fred and Farid. Approach of rehabilitation in competition with the Crédit Agricole and the Banques Populaires, including the Agency, Euro RSCG, has managed to regain the trust of the management.

At the end of this period complex, tense, two new trends emerge. On the one hand, the banks "who continue to draw their Groove by continuing to hold a speech of evidence", said Olivier Aubert, Aubert & Storch President. He cites as an example strategy with one of its customers, LCL (49,721 million euros invested in 2010), but also that of BNP Paribas, which eight months staged client and Advisor narrating their collaboration (and successful) Commons. Or even CIC (EUR 85,720 million), which the Agency Australia has managed to build a real saga on the concept of the "bad bank" - that is sinking into a masochistic passivity - to the Bank on the other side, the "good bank", which has opted for innovation.

On the other side to enable all those who have chosen a radical departure. As the Caisse d'Epargne, who does not hesitate to hammer on its posters that the banking system "can no longer operate as before." Or Société Générale choosing to capitalize on the eternal values. Leaves, for some as to the other, to attract some ridicule. As this grand pattern of Agency who accuses - under cover of anonymity - some institutions pay sometimes obligingly "in a speech incantatory, statutory, or even simple posture."