Against a backdrop of mistrust towards advertising and significant climate constraints, FranceTV Publicité is taking a step forward. The award of the third star of the Positive Company label recognises a CSR approach that has moved from rhetoric to evidence, evaluated by stakeholders.

For Valérie Falciola-Borel, Director of CSR, Impact and Strategic Planning at FranceTV Publicité, this recognition reflects a change in stance: CSR integrated into business strategy, driven by concrete indicators and embraced at the heart of the advertising business.

In this interview, she explains the role of the ‘field’ perspective, the levers for avoiding compromise in CSR, and the specific responsibility of a public service advertising agency to raise market standards.

INfluencia: The third Positive Company star is the highest level of the label.

What do you think this recognition says about the real maturity of FranceTV Publicité’s CSR approach, beyond its stated commitments?

Valérie Falciola-Borel: We see this third star above all as a sign of credibility. It is not a reward for a promise, but recognition of a path already embarked upon, built over time, and now visible.

The strength of this label lies in the fact that it is based half on the perception of stakeholders. In other words, it is not enough to simply formulate commitments: they must be translated into concrete actions and be visible to those who work with us on a daily basis. This third star shows that for our partners, our clients and our teams, FranceTV Publicité’s commitment is no longer just talk. It is increasingly evident in our practices.

This maturity is the result of in-depth work, carried out collectively, around structural choices.

Firstly, CSR is fully integrated into our strategy. Responsibility is not a pillar alongside the rest. It is part of our strategic direction for 2030. The creation of a CSR, Impact and Strategic Planning Department reflects this desire to anchor business vision, impact and management more closely at the heart of our decisions.

Next, the shift from a logic of intention to a logic of proof. Carbon footprint measurement, climate trajectory validated by the SBTi (The Science Based Targets initiative), more sustainable digital technology, responsible purchasing charter, monitoring indicators: we have chosen to objectify our commitments, measure their effects and draw all the necessary conclusions, even when they highlight areas for improvement.

Finally, responsibility assumed in our core business. FranceTV Publicité has chosen to question the very role of advertising: its intensity, its content, its impact. This sometimes means making trade-offs and gradually contributing to the evolution of our ecosystem through new benchmarks.

This recognition does not mean that everything is perfect. It marks a threshold: that of an organisation that accepts to be evaluated on the consistency between what it says, what it does and how its stakeholders perceive it. This is probably the true marker of maturity today.

INfluencia: Half of the label is based on stakeholder perception.

How has this ‘on-the-ground’ perspective challenged or changed your CSR strategy and the way you manage internal transformation?

Valérie Falciola-Borel: The perspective of stakeholders is undoubtedly the most decisive and valuable aspect of the label. It forces us to move away from a self-assessment approach and confront the perceived reality.

This ‘on-the-ground’ feedback confirmed certain intuitions, but it also highlighted discrepancies: between what we thought was clear and what was not yet clear, between what was structured at the central level and what remained unevenly understood or appropriated in the field.

Concretely, this reinforced three major developments:

• Firstly, an increased demand for consistency: between our external commitments and our internal practices, particularly in terms of digital technology and responsible purchasing.
• Secondly, more cross-functional management: CSR cannot be driven by a single department. The network of business line representatives, the CSR steering committee and the involvement of the Executive Committee have become essential to truly transform the organisation.
• Finally, a greater effort in terms of education and internal ownership: explaining the meaning, making trade-offs clear, and giving teams concrete tools so that everyone can take ownership of the approach.

INfluencia: FranceTV Publicité operates at the heart of the advertising ecosystem. How can you reconcile commercial performance, environmental responsibility and service requirements for advertisers without compromising on CSR?

Valérie Falciola-Borel: For us, it’s not really a question of ‘reconciling’ opposing rationales. The challenge is rather to take on a leading role and help to change the framework in which advertising operates.

This requires rigorous CSR. Working on the carbon performance of advertising messages with independent scientific partners is part of this choice: to structure the market rather than passively adapting to its changes.

In this approach, it is not a question of judging advertisers. The role of a public service advertising agency is to provide support. This involves providing objective, clear and robust tools that inform decisions and direct investment towards messages and products that are more compatible with climate trajectories. It is a logic of shared progress, not compromise.

Finally, the requirement for service remains central. But it is evolving: today, serving an advertiser well also means helping them to anticipate the societal, regulatory and reputational expectations of tomorrow.

INfluencia: In a context of mistrust towards advertising and the media, what specific role can and should a public service advertising agency play in accelerating more responsible and socially useful advertising?

Valérie Falciola-Borel: A public service advertising agency has a special responsibility. It cannot simply follow the market. It must help to raise standards, with increased requirements for content, messages and environments.

This responsibility begins with setting an example. It is difficult to promote high standards for advertising without first applying them to one’s own operations.

In concrete terms, this means taking action across the entire value chain: offering brand-safe advertising environments with controlled intensity, making more sober technological choices, and relying on partners recognised for their expertise, as in our approach with Carbone 4.

In a context of mistrust, advertising will not regain confidence through greater volume or promises.

It will regain it through greater meaning, responsibility and consistency. It is no longer the proliferation of discourse or labels that makes the difference, but the ability to align strategy, governance and operations over the long term.

Being a committed company means accepting to look at your blind spots, recognising what can still be improved, sometimes giving up, and moving forward with humility.

This third Positive Company star reinforces this requirement: to continue to treat advertising not as a problem to be corrected, but as a useful, credible lever that serves economic, social and environmental transitions.