Saint-Gobain

Industrial & Manufacturing
Media Relations, Reputation Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, PESO Campaign

Supporting Business Growth Through Impactful Storytelling

Despite being the world’s largest building materials company and literally being everywhere, most people didn’t recognize the name Saint-Gobain. This was a problem since Saint-Gobain identified North America as a critical growth region. Saint-Gobain needed to increase brand awareness and improve perception as a forward-thinking and socially responsible company in order to generate sustainable, profitable growth.

10-Yr

Client-agency partnership

32%

Increase in unaided awareness amongst business audiences

10x

Increased awareness amongst consumers

20+

Regional and national PR awards

Turning an Anniversary into a Brand Moment

Saint-Gobain, predominantly a b2b brand, saw a unique opportunity to change its low level of brand awareness among key stakeholders, including consumers in North America by leveraging its 350th anniversary to create a yearlong program, “350 Reasons to Believe in the Future,” that would revolve primarily around a never-before-seen global exhibition called “Future Sensations.” Our PR approach promoted the exhibition in North America through paid, earned, shared and owned media helping people realize how the brand has impacted their lives this whole time and building affinity with a new generation.  

193

Pieces of earned media coverage over 10 weeks

38+

Million media impressions

3,653

Instagram photos posted with campaign hashtag

Building an Authentic Storytelling Platform

Saint-Gobain decided to address a disconnect between the company’s North American headquarters and its mission by building a physical embodiment of the brand that could show the world how building with its products can impact business viability and employee well-being. Our communications plan for leveraging the headquarters, known as a “Living Laboratory,” from ground-breaking through ribbon-cutting and beyond allowed the company to establish itself as a respected sustainability leader and a great place to work. 

Putting a Brand at the Nexus of Trending Issues

Saint-Gobain found itself in a highly unique position to comment on critical conversations and trends in the U.S. and put the brand at the nexus of these issues by creating a robust executive thought leadership program featuring its CEO at the helm. Our strategic approach consisted of: 

  • Developing executive personas illustrating unique perspectives to guide SG’s narrative 
  • Producing and incorporating key messages throughout all communication channels to ensure consistency 
  • Creating a content strategy to amplify CEO’s voice and provide digestible, sharable and useful information 
  • Expanding the thought leadership bench to include other executives to amplify CEO’s messages 

Using CSR to Solve Business and Societal Challenges

To demonstrate how Saint-Gobain enhances the well-being of people everywhere, the company developed a national partnership with YouthBuild USA’s green initiatives and construction program that teaches green building skills. By providing underprivileged young people with the tools to create a brighter future, the company addressed several business and societal issues, including filling the gap for skilled workers in the manufacturing and construction industry and creating an affinity for its building materials among young people who participate in the program. Together, we developed a multifaceted program that included community events, employee volunteerism and engagement strategies that were ripe for storytelling across paid, earned, owned and shared channels for over a decade.