Three questions to Damien Marchi

Damien Marchi, who has just been appointed Executive Vice-President Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Vivendi, answers three questions on the Group’s CSR strategy.

-What are the pillars of Vivendi’s CSR strategy?

In 2020, Vivendi redefined and strengthened its CSR strategy with its program, Creation for the Future, based on three pillars: Creation for the Planet, Creation for Society and Creation with All.

Creation for the Future sets a common course for the whole group: all entities have a program of CSR commitments and indicators in line with the Creation for the Future objectives, adapted to the specificities of their activities and geographical locations.

Creation for the Planet supports our environmental initiatives. Our top priority is to reduce the carbon footprint of our activities. Our decarbonisation trajectory is validated by the Science Based Targets initiative and aligned with the Paris Agreement. In 2022, thanks to everyone’s efforts, we reduced the Group’s “direct” CO2 emissions (scopes 1 and 2) by 10% compared to 2021. Of course, much remains to be done, but this is a good first step.

Creation for Society is our commitment to society. Convinced of the power of culture and entertainment, one of Vivendi’s priorities is to make culture accessible to as many people as possible. For more than 15 years, Vivendi Create Joy has been a powerful lever of impact for the Group, which supports more than 25,000 young people a year in their cultural activities or professional training.

Creation with All consists of revealing and supporting all talents with a focus on diversity and inclusion. Vivendi intends to promote the creation of a shared culture by involving its employees in the achievement of its CSR objectives. Together, we can act on equal opportunities and bring about a more inclusive world.

Thanks to these three pillars, Vivendi intends to drive its CSR transformation and take an active part in building a more sustainable and responsible world.

-What has been your career path?

My career path is typical of the people who occupy CSR positions on the market today. First I developed my knowledge of several of the Group’s businesses: storytelling, production, digital innovation and brands. Then, faced with the urgency of the situation, combining all this with my personal commitment to put myself at the service of CSR transformation seemed almost obvious. I enjoy being able to “do my bit” and continue to learn every day.

For 15 years, I started out working for several audiovisual production companies, in France and abroad, for television and digital platforms. I was lucky in particular to receive an Emmy Award (a great moment 😊) and to work with several NGOs and even the United Nations in Brussels (a first step towards CSR…).

In 2014, I joined the Vivendi group. Firstly, as Global Head of Content at Havas, which gave me the opportunity to work with many people in the Group and to produce with them several branded entertainment campaigns. Then, as a member of Gameloft’s executive committee in charge of marketing and communications, which gave me the opportunity to work closely and with pleasure with Disney and Lego, among others.

In 2021, I joined Vivendi’s head office as Director of CSR Development. I’ve come across a very good group CSR team and a CSR network within the entities. I am therefore delighted to have the opportunity to continue working with everyone to give new impetus to CSR. And this at a particular time, when the CSR regulatory environment is getting tougher, and companies are under increasing scrutiny.

Vivendi, at the crossroads of entertainment, content, media and communication, has a unique position in Europe and the world. And it has a powerful CSR impact. I’m proud to be part of it, and I’d like to thank Yannick Bolloré and Arnaud de Puyfontaine for this opportunity.

-Which projects are closest to your heart?

Each of the three pillars of Vivendi’s CSR strategy is important, because a committed group like our has a duty to be active on social, societal and environmental levels. All our commitments, projects and contributions are therefore important in terms of what they say and show about our Group.

If I had to choose just one project from among those, I have been lucky enough to support since 2021, I have to say that the Group’s Mentoring program holds a special place in my mind. Since March 2022, Vivendi Mentorat has enabled all employees in all Vivendi business lines in mainland France and overseas to get involved and work towards equal opportunities by giving a helping hand to young people whose social background, geographical location or life path makes professional integration more difficult.

With just a few hours’ voluntary work taken from our working hours, each and every one of us can have a real impact on a young person and see him or her make rapid progress, regain self-confidence and achieve his or her career goals.

Thanks to the commitment of more than 160 people in the group, we have already helped nearly 200 young people. Mentoring is concrete civic engagement. It enables intergenerational and social exchange and helps to move forward inclusion and equal opportunities.

The approach we’ve developed is very different from other mentoring programs. Thanks to our partners Article 1, Télémaque, Sport dans la Ville, SciencesPo (equal opportunities), Kodiko and Fondation FACE Hauts de Seine, who are essential links in this fantastic adventure, we are able to offer different types of commitment (short/long mentoring, minor/major, student/job-seeker/working life), enabling us to have the widest possible impact.

Furthermore, as access to culture is at the heart of Vivendi’s raison d’être and of our CSR commitments, we have made it an additional key element of the program. We offer all our mentees the chance to experience culture on their own (discovering a book, for example), as a duo (going to the cinema) or as a group (Mc Solaar concert at the Philharmonie de Paris on 26 October 2022).

Mentoring undeniably helps the mentee. But experience has shown that it also has an extremely positive impact on the mentor who, thanks to this new relationship, opens up to another person, understands him, helps him and quite simply grows from it.