A new wave should tumbled down in September

Exit the development forward of the pure technological performance. And place a notion traditionally put forward by the private sector: the concept of service. In the space of a campaign of four signed TV spots of its agency TBWA Paris, TGV address a radical farewell to yesterday was the nerve of its advertising communication: the promise of unparalleled speed, which went hand in hand with assured comfort. A communication that had allowed the high speed train as "a real brand and not as a simple product," said Georges Lewi, marks sociologist and President of the Institute BEAK. In place of the "transactional formula", adds the sociologist, "a socio-cultural promise based on targeting marketing..." In other words, it is more to sell speed, but the services adapted to different types of consumers.

The paradox of the image

This evolution, begun smooth two years ago, must also respond to a change of context: the opening to competition, since December 2009, the passenger rail made ce change inevitable strategy, even if the actors are still expected. "In 2001, at the launch of the TGV Méditerranée, Guillaume Pepy, then Director-General of the SNCF for customer, targeted to the TGV a competitive brand, characterized primarily by high offers of range, to better counter the plane and gain market share", remembers Anne Vincent, Vice-President of TBWA Paris.

Bet, according to Georges Lewi, who believes even required having witnessed an unexpected paradox: "The TGV which rescued his mother house, financially but in terms of image as is." A rare fact, but explaining the bad image which suffers the SNCF, "jig" by repeated strikes, in particular on the according in the Paris region. "Where, according to him,"sneaky rivalry between teams of the TGV SNCF, with a gap that continues to grow for the benefit of the first."

The rate is no longer enough

The new competitive space in which now operates the TGV imposes this turn, that seem to reinforce the studies conducted by the SNCF to consumers: "for them, unveils Anne Vincent, one of the most important levers is the dimension of service, strong point of the TGV. A further major axis that these same studies reveal how travel can be a form of "violence" for the individual. "A stone, in passing, in the garden of the air, where"load failures"(journeys, waiting, delays takeoff and arrival of the aircraft... stress) are commonplace.

But, most importantly, it became impossible for the TGV to continue momentum apart from the competition. According to Martine Gorce, marketing director of the TGV brand, "speed will cease to be an element of differentiation with the competition, characteristic that all future competitors, whether it be railways (Trenitalia, Deutsche Bahn...). or air (Virgin, Air France...), can claim with the same legitimacy. Now, our objective will therefore be much more to anchor in the head of the clients that we've gone from a physical mark on a service mark. We we are in broad statements of intent, but we're new, immediately usable services scene. "Which services include offers also different than" to accompany the traveller from the start until the arrival with the support of the baggage from the home, particularly for seniors;" to pick up his car in the client, Charter it on the train and deliver to the final destination; or propose family travel in special cars with animations for children... ", enumerates Anne Vincent.

Preceded by an institutional press campaign explaining the approach of the TGV, the television campaign, started June 9 by a great mark of 45 seconds film, followed by three spots of 30 seconds. Their mission Demonstrate the benefit of these new services through the staging of "men-ghost" benevolent, to facilitate the travel or to distract children. Finally, an entertainment device came to piggyback on orange and MSN sites. A new wave should tumbled down in September.