Aged 42 and father of three children, Romain Jolivet has a passion for advertising. “The little family story goes that when I was 5 years old, I asked my parents to give me a TV that would only show adverts.” What fascinates him? This permanent competition of creativity which characterizes the world of advertising. A graduate of a business school, he began his career within Danone. He has the opportunity to work on the Volvic brand. “The brand was a little dormant and I was given carte blanche to revitalize it.” With a small team of enthusiasts, he is leading its repositioning. Success is there. He was given the opportunity to fly to Mexico, still with Danone, to work on a local mineral water brand which then represented 1 billion euros in turnover. From experience to experience, from success to success, he understands that he needs great creative freedom to flourish.
Promoted to global marketing director at Danone in Paris, he is going through a crisis of meaning. “I had reached the end of the road, I no longer found myself in what I was accomplishing. I suddenly wanted to go further.” He discovers by chance a LinkedIn post which mentions vegetable bacon from a start-up. Contact was made with the founder of what would soon become La Vie. “A few days later, an advert was posted to recruit a marketing director. I didn’t match the profile at all so I applied… The adventure could begin!”
The power of marketing is an incredible responsibility
During his discussions with the founders of the company, Romain Jolivet measures the extent to which this improbable project inspires him. It is May 2021 and the product is due to be released in October. He left Danone and launched headlong: without a brand name, without a branding agency, or even a marketing team. Three years later and a few vegetable bacon slice missions later, the bet is about to be won. “I’ve found at La Vie this total confidence in the mission of marketing and a response to my taste for creativity”. His obsession? Make vegetable bacon attractive, funny, interesting. To do this, it instills a “code breaker” spirit that hits the mark. Offbeat communication, audacity, unbridled appeal… It works, in London La Vie t-shirts are being snapped up. “The desirability and attractiveness of our brand awakens in me a real feeling of fulfillment…”.
But breaking the rules is not always enough and La Vie does not hesitate to play the confrontation card. He explains: “Our most famous campaigns are those which testify to our courage to confront the industrial meat lobby which weighs 1,300 billion dollars!” The result? 200,000 pigs saved each year, thousands of tonnes of CO2 which are not released into the atmosphere, “we are concretely changing consciousness, consumption, and we are doing it while having fun. There is no better lever of influence than laughter”. His conviction? The power of marketing which has the power to influence consumer behavior. “It’s a considerable power but above all it’s an incredible responsibility that we must never lose sight of.”
Source: www.e-marketing.fr
