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SNCF.CHAT
What if communication in times of crisis simply started with a dialogue?
If we told you that all the trains would be on time, on 25 April for example, you’d think that’s great. But if your train is late, that changes everything. And if it happens more often than not, then you’d get really mad and make your anger known, on the internet for example (ah yes, Web 2.0….).
Indeed, because each train is a bit like our own personal train, and the SNCF is a little part of the French national consciousness, then the criticism of SNCF in traditional media happens in even more lively, spontaneous and fiery manner on the internet. As an example, the closing of Saint Lazare station on 13 January 2009 drew attacks from all sides: media sites, users and opinion leaders’ blogs.
Two solutions presented themselves: bury your head in the sand and wait for it to blow over (that could take awhile) or counter-attack head-on (that could hurt). The SNCF opted for neither, but they did take action. As of 14 January, the SNCF spoke via YouTube and Dailymotion platforms in the person of Jean-Pierre Farandou, the Transilien Director, and explained Saint Lazare station’s closure for security reasons. From 15-21 January, continuous specific, complementary and ongoing buzz monitoring (it’s the phrase that’s used at Duke to say we’re listening to what’s being said on the internet) was set up.
On 21 January a video chat was set up with Guillaume Pepy and Farandou (because they are the SNCF President and CEO of Transilien/TER SNCF, and when things go wrong, you want to speak to the “boss” and no one else) with a massive media campaign to inform people and invite them to participate. The result was an event largely relayed through user blogs and the media, in which 2,400 questions were asked before the chat, 1,400 questions were asked live and in which 2,300 internet users participated. It presented the image of a truly transparent, responsible company that listens to its customers. SNCF.COM Sometimes confusion is good, because it generates good surprises… Ok, we know we haven’t even gotten started before we have to stop you: don’t be confused, make any wisecracks, commit violent acts or feel an urge to kill, but we’re talking about the sncf.com site. Yes (just listen), yes yes, or rather no, “I hate you, I can’t stand you, arghhhhhhh” (just listen to us some more). Stop!!! This is NOT about the site voyages-sncf.com, the one you disparage because its user-friendliness is, shall we say, debatable, and it’s always undergoing maintenance. No, not the site you use (and you’d like to use a bit more and a bit better maybe) to find out the timetables, reserve a train ticket, even take off to the ends of the earth by plane (“further than you imagined” as their advertising says).
No, we’re talking about sncf.com. So what is it? The url you type leisurely and unthinkingly to find the best way to get from Limoges to Périgueux, before discovering that’s not where it is? Yes, that one. But mainly the image and corporate site of the SNCF company (nothing to do with a ticket, then). Whoa, corporate, that’s no fun (you say to yourself). On the contrary, we retort. As long as you apply sales logic to the corporate: put the user at the start of all thinking and always keep them in mind. With a highly attractive home page (through the carrousel) but also service (via the lower part). With an intuitive navigation, and by making it easy to read. A fun site. A multimedia site (more than 300 spots, more than 50 animations). With all that, it seems that now more than half of the people who end up going to voyages-sncf.com (the other site, we want to keep that clear) see at least one piece of content before doing so, and that the time of the visit has doubled. We’ll get there eventually, we really believe that. SNCF.INTRANET An intranet is like the internet but “intra,” right? You know the internet, right? If you answer is no, we’re worried about you, and we’re wondering how the hell you got to this page. Ok, let’s say you know about it. But intranet? extranet? Not very inviting... Maybe not (actually it is, and that’s what this text is about), but when your name is SNCF and you have 160,000 people to communicate with internally, it’s absolutely vital.
The problem was to bring together about 400 “local” extranets in one single site, and to find the right tone of voice to involve a widely diverse internal audience ranging from those in charge of maintaining the rails, to train conductors, to corporate executives, and so on. It’s a head-scratcher that Duke managed to solve brilliantly, by choosing to emphasise and provide information on the early versions and work-in-progress via regular and recurring communications on internal affairs. But how? By email? RSS flow (that’s nothing to do with the old Soviet Union)? A widget? No...
With a personality. And who is this personality? Julie Ferrier. A multi-faceted character actress, she created a gallery of endearing and funny characters to invite internet users to use the portal’s new functions through recurring and amusing webisodes (that means it’s always fun, which wasn’t obvious in the beginning for an Intranet, we have to say). The result: “Lundi c’est Ferrier” webisodes (a great pun in French, meaning “we’ve got Monday off”) are the most-viewed videos since the creation of the SNCF intranet site, with eight times more connections than average. And since then, people at the SNCF have been saying, into the camera with a big smile and thumbs-up: “The extranet is extra great” (we don’t really think that, but we can picture it!).
Indeed, because each train is a bit like our own personal train, and the SNCF is a little part of the French national consciousness, then the criticism of SNCF in traditional media happens in even more lively, spontaneous and fiery manner on the internet. As an example, the closing of Saint Lazare station on 13 January 2009 drew attacks from all sides: media sites, users and opinion leaders’ blogs.
Two solutions presented themselves: bury your head in the sand and wait for it to blow over (that could take awhile) or counter-attack head-on (that could hurt). The SNCF opted for neither, but they did take action. As of 14 January, the SNCF spoke via YouTube and Dailymotion platforms in the person of Jean-Pierre Farandou, the Transilien Director, and explained Saint Lazare station’s closure for security reasons. From 15-21 January, continuous specific, complementary and ongoing buzz monitoring (it’s the phrase that’s used at Duke to say we’re listening to what’s being said on the internet) was set up.
On 21 January a video chat was set up with Guillaume Pepy and Farandou (because they are the SNCF President and CEO of Transilien/TER SNCF, and when things go wrong, you want to speak to the “boss” and no one else) with a massive media campaign to inform people and invite them to participate. The result was an event largely relayed through user blogs and the media, in which 2,400 questions were asked before the chat, 1,400 questions were asked live and in which 2,300 internet users participated. It presented the image of a truly transparent, responsible company that listens to its customers. SNCF.COM Sometimes confusion is good, because it generates good surprises… Ok, we know we haven’t even gotten started before we have to stop you: don’t be confused, make any wisecracks, commit violent acts or feel an urge to kill, but we’re talking about the sncf.com site. Yes (just listen), yes yes, or rather no, “I hate you, I can’t stand you, arghhhhhhh” (just listen to us some more). Stop!!! This is NOT about the site voyages-sncf.com, the one you disparage because its user-friendliness is, shall we say, debatable, and it’s always undergoing maintenance. No, not the site you use (and you’d like to use a bit more and a bit better maybe) to find out the timetables, reserve a train ticket, even take off to the ends of the earth by plane (“further than you imagined” as their advertising says).
No, we’re talking about sncf.com. So what is it? The url you type leisurely and unthinkingly to find the best way to get from Limoges to Périgueux, before discovering that’s not where it is? Yes, that one. But mainly the image and corporate site of the SNCF company (nothing to do with a ticket, then). Whoa, corporate, that’s no fun (you say to yourself). On the contrary, we retort. As long as you apply sales logic to the corporate: put the user at the start of all thinking and always keep them in mind. With a highly attractive home page (through the carrousel) but also service (via the lower part). With an intuitive navigation, and by making it easy to read. A fun site. A multimedia site (more than 300 spots, more than 50 animations). With all that, it seems that now more than half of the people who end up going to voyages-sncf.com (the other site, we want to keep that clear) see at least one piece of content before doing so, and that the time of the visit has doubled. We’ll get there eventually, we really believe that. SNCF.INTRANET An intranet is like the internet but “intra,” right? You know the internet, right? If you answer is no, we’re worried about you, and we’re wondering how the hell you got to this page. Ok, let’s say you know about it. But intranet? extranet? Not very inviting... Maybe not (actually it is, and that’s what this text is about), but when your name is SNCF and you have 160,000 people to communicate with internally, it’s absolutely vital.
The problem was to bring together about 400 “local” extranets in one single site, and to find the right tone of voice to involve a widely diverse internal audience ranging from those in charge of maintaining the rails, to train conductors, to corporate executives, and so on. It’s a head-scratcher that Duke managed to solve brilliantly, by choosing to emphasise and provide information on the early versions and work-in-progress via regular and recurring communications on internal affairs. But how? By email? RSS flow (that’s nothing to do with the old Soviet Union)? A widget? No...
With a personality. And who is this personality? Julie Ferrier. A multi-faceted character actress, she created a gallery of endearing and funny characters to invite internet users to use the portal’s new functions through recurring and amusing webisodes (that means it’s always fun, which wasn’t obvious in the beginning for an Intranet, we have to say). The result: “Lundi c’est Ferrier” webisodes (a great pun in French, meaning “we’ve got Monday off”) are the most-viewed videos since the creation of the SNCF intranet site, with eight times more connections than average. And since then, people at the SNCF have been saying, into the camera with a big smile and thumbs-up: “The extranet is extra great” (we don’t really think that, but we can picture it!).