Interview with Jean-Louis Bénard, CEO of Sociabble

Who is Jean-Louis Bénard?

Jean-Louis Bénard is the CEO and co-founder of Sociabble. In 1994, he co-founded the digital agency FRA, acquired by Digitas in 2001. With more than 100 people dedicated to e-commerce, FRA implemented all the e-commerce platforms of Carrefour, including OOSHOP. In 2003, he founded Brainsonic, a leading digital communications agency with over 120 people, where he still serves as chairman. In 2014, he launched Sociabble, a software company dedicated to delivering top-of-the-line, mobile-first enterprise solutions for internal communication, employee advocacy, and employee engagement. Jean-Louis Bénard is the main shareholder of Sociabble.

We carried out an interview with Jean-Louis to learn more about the impact of sustainability on the corporate world, read on to learn what he had to say:

Q.1 - Jean-Louis, you are as much an experienced entrepreneur as you are a successful one, with nearly 3 decades of founding and growing companies. How much has the business landscape changed in relation to the importance placed on sustainable business practices over the last 3 decades and how has this impacted your own global business strategy?

Jean-Louis: The early 1990s were marked by the Gulf War, with the risk of oil prices soaring. The fate of the planet and our climate were totally off the radar when it came to corporate priorities. The 2000s, until recently, saw companies focused on the emergence of digital and its consequences on business transformation. I wouldn’t say that this subject is completely behind us, but in any case, over the last few years, companies have both started to understand that climate change could have serious consequences for their business, and also that there is in fact a real opportunity to enter this fight together for the planet.

Q.2 - Since when exactly have you either recognized from speaking with your customers or analyzing business intelligence data, that an environmentally oriented business solution will become an essential part of your business as well as of the economy?

Jean-Louis: We first began to integrate this environmental dimension a little over two years ago, when we started seeing some of our clients reward the efforts of their employees by planting trees. It made a strong impression on me. I told myself that there was clearly something that could be done to facilitate the process. Our platform helps companies to have knowledgeable and engaged employees, and engagement is a key topic for companies. But it's a two-way street. Employees are also waiting for their company to make a commitment, especially for the planet. We saw that there was an opportunity there. Our platform now automates what some of our clients were doing manually. Employee engagement is rewarded by the commitment of the company to plant trees on their behalf. Most of our clients are now implementing this option, which is usually part of a larger carbon offset program to achieve carbon neutrality.

Q.3 - Why do you think this shift is happening now, not a decade ago or a decade from now?

Jean-Louis: There are several reasons to explain the timing. For one, the impact of climate change is starting to be really noticeable, the danger is unfortunately very "palpable” now. This danger accelerates the sense of urgency, the key factor for change. The repeated appeals from the scientific community, which have started receiving more attention from the media, also played a role. But above all, I think business leaders understood that government action meant nothing without the private sector and that if companies themselves did not act, they would directly suffer the consequences of climate change. No one will come to save them. It’s also worth mentioning the emergence of impact finance, which reveals a fundamental shift among shareholders.

Q.4 - How do you expect the economy will look after these changes are made and how long do you think until the shift is completed?

Jean-Louis: This transition will take much longer than expected. Companies are emerging with a business model adapted to the new constraints, but many are still entangled in the current crisis. Adapting to climate change may be a great way to bounce back, but it also requires investments that the companies sometimes cannot make. But the urgency is there, we have no choice.

Q.5 - From the perspective of the CEO of Sociabble, how much attention do you pay to not only carbon offsetting by planting trees with Tree-Nation, but also creating a carbon-neutral culture in the workplace, and what plans do you have for this in the future?

Jean-Louis: A crisis often brings new opportunities. COVID has put us in a mode where teleworking is the norm. We hardly travel anymore. This saves a lot of time, considerable savings, and allows a contribution—often modest, it’s true—to the necessary causes. Naturally, for a company like ours, the main area of concern is carbon emissions linked to Datacenters. We are working on carbon footprint reduction and our partnership with Tree-Nation plays a crucial part.

Q.6 - What do you think are the biggest challenges established companies face when converting their operations to become carbon neutral?

Jean-Louis: Analyzing a company's carbon footprint is often more complex than you might think. We also have to take into account the footprint generated by subcontractors as part of its total. The decarbonization of production processes can face multiple obstacles (competitiveness, feasibility, etc.) when it comes to a carbon offset program. But ultimately, the main obstacle is the fact that the topic is not seen as a major priority by all the players involved (shareholders, leadership team, local managers, etc.). Or on the contrary, because we all want to do very well, we ultimately don’t do much at all.

Q.7 - If you were to advise your clients or key decision-makers from other companies on how they should respond to the threat of climate change and changes in consumer behavior, what would you tell them?

Jean-Louis: I would tell them not to wait. To go ahead and start, even with an imperfect approach. We must prioritize action, and constant improvement, both in measurement and in the initiatives put in place. From this point of view, a reforestation initiative is a simple approach, which can be implemented immediately.

Q.8 - How do you help companies to start or expand their environmental initiatives?

Jean-Louis: That’s what Sociabble Trees is all about. From the platform, it’s possible to contribute to Tree-Nation's reforestation projects quickly and easily, by rewarding employees for their commitment. This takes care of two things at once; you can reward everyday actions with a planted tree. The process can be automated, depending on the specific actions of employees on the platform (creation of content, participation in a survey, sharing on LinkedIn, etc.), but also connected to actions carried out in the field: participation in a training seminar, for example.

The company has full visibility regarding its carbon footprint reduction, as does the employee, who gets to see the impact of their personal commitment.

Q.9 - How do you and your teams affect environmental change within Sociabble, and how do you communicate to your clients to do the same?

Jean-Louis: Naturally, we use Sociabble Trees internally, but beyond that, we motivate our employees to offer trees to our customers. Sociabble rewards the purchase of trees by our customers by donating 1% of the amount to the employee who initiated the sale—in the form of trees, of course, that goes without saying!

Q.10 - Why did you decide to partner specifically with Tree-Nation for your CO2 offsetting/tree-planting needs and do you have any future plans involving Tree-Nation that you would like to share?

Jean-Louis: From our very first meeting, we knew that Tree-Nation shared common values with Sociabble, this was essential for us.

Tree-Nation does a great job, with a lot of humility. We were able to quickly build end-to-end automation with them, which allows us to trigger tree planting from our customers' platforms. They can choose the projects they want to invest in, the type of trees they want, etc. Tree-Nation has reforestation projects all over the world, and this corresponds well to the demands of our clients, who are global companies.

Q.11 - On a personal level, do you plant trees yourself? How do you go about instilling a culture of environmental awareness in your own home?

Jean-Louis: I am very fortunate to live in nature, on the edge of a forest, in an area where trees are preserved, and where I can practice trail running, which I’m a big fan of. My whole family is aware of the importance of helping to preserve the local ecosystem. Of course, we still have progress to make, the trade-off between ease and preservation of nature is not always easy. It's a full-time job!

Q.12 - What are your hopes for the world and the changes to come within the next 10 years to address climate change in terms of not only business but also the socio-political perspective?

Jean-Louis: My hope is to see the subject of climate change become a real priority for everyone before it really is too late. The sense of urgency must be reinforced by all means, but we must also give everyone, individuals, businesses, and organizations included, a simple plan of action. This requires changes in habit, but also for companies, frameworks that can be quickly implemented. This is what we are trying to contribute, as part of our partnership with Tree-Nation.