Author: Team Mascaret

What is a mascaret, otherwise called a “tidal bore”? Not all of our partners may know that this is not a word we made up from scratch, but a rare and highly symbolic phenomenon! 🌊🌊🌊

Those of you who are from the southwest may already be familiar with the mascaret. This phenomenon can be observed in certain regions where, at each tide, a sudden wave forms at the mouth of a river or a stream (the Gironde for example!). This wave will then go up the river against the current, and this, sometimes on more than 100km! The surfers then have a great time and enjoy this experience by letting themselves be carried by this unique wave 🏄♂️🏄♂️🏄♂️

A beautiful symbol of the values we carry!
_{#mascaret #newbusiness #brandinginspiration}

Senior partner and CEO of Mascaret (formerly Dentsu Consulting), Benjamin GRANGE reveals the content of his latest article for Forbes France: “The company has become political”.

The rise of stakeholders, the ESG approach, Covid19, the Russian crisis, … have strongly politicized the way companies manage their external relations

Internal politics has always been part of the company. In its positive sense, it consists in being diplomatic, in the art of promoting decisions, in presenting situations as well as possible internally. But in recent years, and with an acceleration since 2020, events have forced companies to go further. In its definition, politics is mainly about the collective. It concerns the actions, the balance, the development of the society in which we live, in all its aspects. For the company, politics is about the capacity to generate its externalities and to take clear positions towards society. For a long time, the company remained focused on its shareholders, whose growth and return it had to serve. It thus avoided interfering in matters relating to political parties, the geopolitical situation or public debates when this did not directly threaten the continuity of its operations.

Today, in an accelerated world where the transformation of the notion of authority, the systematic relativization of points of view, the multipolarity of decision-making centers, the versatility of communities of interest on the Internet, etc., mean that we have moved from the era of claimed expertise to the era of assumed influence, the company has been led to become a political player. Without limiting the personal impetus given by certain managers, pressure from customers, NGOs and civil society has forced the company to be curious and to make commitments in the management of its potential externalities: climate transition, production ethics, diversity, etc. By becoming aware of its interactions with society, the company has gradually become more political. As a direct consequence, it has begun to display its struggles, as illustrated by its status as a company with a mission or B-Corp. With Covid19, the company became a relay for the public authorities, offering services that the State had difficulty providing: purchase of masks, manufacture of gel, etc. Since then, the war in Ukraine has opened up the field of geopolitics: withdraw from Russia, leaving almost everything behind before the economic sanctions, or stay and be accused of not playing Europe’s game. Because if the company has become political in its relations with the outside world, it is also playing politics more and more. Total Energies chose to maintain its activity in Russia during the first months of the war. The consequence was twofold: significant profits and a new reputational issue, even prompting Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, to call for a tax on the excess profits of energy companies. At the same time, soaring fuel prices have generated intense mobilization of public authorities to implement measures to support purchasing power. Air transport and its customers have been singled out for the level of CO2 emissions, while industries that emit much more are the symbol of what needs to be relocated. Today, with the concept of sovereignty applied to private actors, relations are oriented towards certain “friendly” countries or countries reputed to be so, to the detriment of others. Another political choice! This situation raises a question of organization for the company. Who is responsible for managing this political management?

To find all our analyses on this subject, go to our website or directly to the pages of Forbes!

Yves CENSI, Senior Partner at Mascaret (formerly Dentsu Consulting) introduced, on July 6th, the panelists called to debate within the framework of the seminar of decision makers in #Banking – #Finance – #Insurance. This seminar organized by the independent think tank Ambitious Finance by AILANCY, welcomed many talents from our partners Finance for Tomorrow, WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Novethic and RSEDATANEWS.

The seminar was held in several stages at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, each one addressing different aspects of sustainable economics and finance. Yves Censi chaired the very first Ambitious Finance round table, the theme of which was “Sustainable finance: between accelerating challenges for the financial sphere and cautious action by states”. He was joined by our collaborators Alexandre Malafaye – Founder of Synopia, Jean Boissinot – Secretary General of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) and Arnaud Dumas, Editor of Novethic Essentiel.

Why sustainable finance? The financial sector plays a driving role in the functioning of the economy: financial flows allow the collection of available capital held by economic agents with a capacity to #finance (generally household savings) to make it available to agents with a need. The various financial #actors can therefore actively participate in a better orientation of #capital towards the financing of investments that have a positive impact on society in the medium and long term. In other words, sustainable finance can be an interesting solution to meet the major #ecological and #economic challenges of our time!

Mascaret (formerly Dentsu Consulting) is partnering with ODOXA to bring you this month’s political barometer! Find all of our analysis of social networks in the aftermath of the legislative elections. In partnership with LCP-National Assembly, Public Senate and the #PQR.

“We are seeing a heightened interest in parliamentary oppositions”, shares Benjamin GRANGE, senior partner at Mascaret, “As expected, the presidential candidates disappear from conversations for the most part. There is a return of the parliamentary political figure who had been discreet during the presidential elections. Notably, the dynamic is confirmed with their representatives – Adrien Quatennens, Manuel Bompard or Jordan Bardella – who explode on the networks: they are asked all the questions that go with their new political weight. »

Yves CENSI, also senior partner, adds: “Will the LRs be a political key for the opposition as for the majority? Many discover the new deputies NUPES and RN, it is to the tenors LR that the media tends the microphone. The unique position of majority (or opposition) maker has not gone unnoticed by Internet users. Xavier Bertrand, Laurent Wauquiez, Eric Ciotti… are at the heart of the questions of the French about their political direction for the post-legislative period. »

The entire quantified study is available on our website!