Katia Lazarew (Société Générale): "Our rugby partnership enhances the image of our company".

Last March, your Group symbolised the handover from Frédéric Oudéa to Slawomir Krupa as CEO with a rugby match in the salons of the Stade de France. Was this a coincidence?

Katia Lazarew - The date of the France-Wales match coincided with the end of Frédéric Oudéa's term of office and the start of Slawomir Krupa's at the head of our group. It was important for us to that the marker for this handover be a rugby ballmarked with the France 2023 logo. This beautiful pass - backwards and not forwards, of course! - showed that the story continues, a continuity symbolised by rugby. Rugby is part of Societe Generale's DNA, a cornerstone of the company's history.

Your Group has been a partner of rugby for almost 40 years. How did you come to support it?

Katia Lazarew - Rugby became part of corporate life at the beginning of the 20th century (editor's note: through the Club athlétique de la Société Générale, founded in 1903 and later renamed the Club athlétique des sports généraux). It was only natural that we should then support the sport with the signing of a partnership with the French Rugby Federation in 1987followed by another with the National Rugby League from 1998. It's a partnership that extends from the grassroots right up to the elite, as we also support 250 amateur clubs. During the World Cup, we will be running the "Flag Bearers" operation, enabling around a hundred children selected from the clubs - two children per match - to carry the colours of each team onto the pitch at the moment of the anthems, while inviting their team-mates to come and watch the match.

What does this longevity bring to your involvement in rugby?

Katia Lazarew - First of all, real legitimacy. Whoever is in charge of sponsorship at the company, the continuity of our support of this sport allows us to build a distinctive partnership that will tell new stories every time, well beyond the visibility of our logo on the pitch. This visibility is obviously important when acquiring rights to a major event such as the World Cup. But in the case of our group, it goes far beyond that. We want to continue to tell great stories about rugby, to promote the sport.

This is reflected in your web series Terrain Favorable and your motto for the World Cup "Together, we can do it all".

Katia Lazarew - That's right. Or our brand signature, which for a long time has been "Team spirit", highlighting the values of commitment and solidarity that are so important for the company, as they are in this sport. In the same vein, for this Rugby World Cup, our communications positioning is "Together, we can do it all". A rallying cry which embodies our objective of living the event together with our customers, partners and employees.

How does this partnership with rugby resonate internally?

Katia Lazarew - We make the most of this partnership by passing on this strong commitment to our managers, so that they draw on it on a daily basis. Furthermore, as part of internal conventions or seminars at all levels, our Societe Generale rugby ambassadors regularly come to convey messages about values and performanceHe drew parallels between sport and the business world, and between the role of the coach and that of the manager. These are strong concepts that are important to us.

Thierry Dusautoir, Jonny Wilkinson, Matt Giteau, Gaëlle Hermet, Caroline Drouin: your guests will also be able to meet these rugby stars at World Cup matches. How will you be promoting your major partnership with France 2023 around the event?

Katia Lazarew - Three or four of our ambassadors will be accompanying us throughout the competition, and will be present at each of our hospitality venues to meet our customers. This customer component, the international impact of our partnership is significant. This is why we have set up Societe Generale hospitality areas in the nine host cities, with public relations operations during 24 matches. All of the Group's business lines, both in France and internationally, will be able to invite their business contacts, some of whom will come from the United Kingdom and even Japan. Given the interest shown by our customers, all our hospitality areas will be full. While they are dedicated to our customers and their in-house companions, we also wanted to offer our employees the chance to experience the World Cup for themselves. To this end, we have organised a major competition to win 2,000 tickets to all the stadiums.

To conclude, can you quantify the transformation of this strong link with the world of the oval ball into a business activity?

Katia Lazarew - Whether it's the World Cup or our other rugby-related initiatives, we monitor them twice a year. These studies show that knowledge of our partnership with the world of rugby enhances the image of our company and, above all, increases the esteem in which our customers are held, reinforcing their desire to recommend our Group.