Hospitality: rugby in the front row

For the next two months, these will undoubtedly be the last trade fairs where people talk. From business a little, but above all rugby. Overflow framing, chistera or collapsed scrum: in the dressing rooms and hospitality areas of the nine World Cup host stadiums, the language of management is going oval. Nearly 25,000 companies and decision-makers are preparing to pamper their customers and staff with the best of rugby.

With 280,000 hospitality services on offer around the 48 matches, the competition organiser, France 2023is counting on this enthusiasm to make the event profitable, with this item accounting for roughly one third of revenues. Behind ticket sales, but ahead of sponsorship. Sponsors who will naturally be in the front row to welcome their guests in VIP conditions, with seated dinners, prime seating and meetings with former stars of the oval ball.

With public relations operations planned around 24 matches, Societe Generale will welcome 7,500 customers during the event, accompanied by a group employee to deepen relations through these shared moments of emotion. Invitations will be extended to all the stadiums, the World Cup being a good opportunity to celebrate the recent merger of the Crédit du Nord and Société Générale retail banking networks to create the new SG national brand. " It was important for us to be present and to be able to invite our customers in all regions. The World Cup is a fantastic platform for launching this new brand, uniting Crédit du Nord and Société Générale customers, and giving them an SG experience at all the stadiums. "explains Katia Lazarew, head of sports sponsorship for the Société Générale Group (see interview elsewhere).

With major partners such as this major French bank, but also CapGemini, Defender (Land Rover), Emirates and Mastercard, with a host of French companies as official sponsors ranging from Accor to Vivendi, not forgetting GL Events, GMF, SNCF, Orange and Total, the event mobilised the French business community. The France Pare-Brise network is also involved in the event.

So rugby is not just a big business. Derby, one of the two official resellers of hospitality services at the Stade de France, has a small number of CAC 40 companies among its clients. some very fine ETIs and SMEs" explains Didier Tibaut, founder of the agency. These include Chronopost, Fenwick, Paprec, Normandie Manutention, the French Building Federation and Fred Perry's French subsidiary. " One of our very good customers for seminars, DAT-Schaub, a Danish company and Europe's number 1 in casings, also broke its piggy bank by inviting several customers to each match at the Stade de France. It's a great way to stand out from the competition. "he adds.

This hospitality offer comes at a price - an average of 2,000 euros for the Webb Ellis service, in a private VIP lounge for 300 people next to the presidential building - but it guarantees that the event will be fully experienced from 6pm to midnight. With the presence of international players, the All Black Victor Vito and French players such as François Trinh Dhuc, Philippe Bernat Salles and Christophe Lamaison. " This is our strong added value, describes the head of the Derby agency. They dine at the table, speak before the match and debrief it at the end." .

As a partner of France 2023 at the Stade de France, the agency was also able to sell its offers for matches in the provinces. " Customers who booked services in Paris also wanted to please their regional offices in Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon or Marseille. "says Didier Tibaut. Because rugby is a major regional sport, with a strong South-Western flavour, the event's reach extends far and wide at national level, to as far as attract the economic fabric around host townss.

A former executive with major multinationals such as IBM and HP, Philippe Sarlin launched his own digital transformation company, DigiPhit, based in Grenoble, after retiring. With customers including SMEs in the Rhône-Alpes region, this a great rugby fan chose to invite some of them to Lyon. " France 2023 is offering a very attractive hospitality package, which is not cheap of course, but sold at a good price. I've selected a three-match package with four seats for each match." says Philippe Sarlin. His passion for rugby guides him in the distribution of these passes. " I invite a customer who knows the sport very well to a high-stakes match, Wales-Australia, then a rugby fan of Italian origin to New Zealand-Italy and finally a customer who is less keen on the oval ball to New Zealand-Uruguay, to help him discover the atmosphere and magic of the All Blacks." he says.

Cohesion, humility, solidarity: the rugby values stick to the speech Philippe Sarlin's approach to change management. " The human aspects are paramount in any high-tech project," he explains. It's like the World Cup, it's a team project with a coach and objectives. People have to pull together and believe in what they're doing. ". By offering these moments of sport and sharing to his best customers, he intends to establish the consistency of his interventions and give his company visibility. Although Philippe Sarlin has not booked any matches in Paris, his diary has been cleared for the last weekends in October, so you never know. " In 2007, at the last minute, I was offered a place in the final." ...