With an impressive 16 million users logging in to book train travel, check timetable information or chat with customer service, SNCF Connect is one of France’s favourite mobile apps. But despite such enviable in-market recognition, the brand found itself faced with the need to evolve its influencer marketing strategy to reshape the company’s sustainable mobility narrative and reach customers where they were. In this interview, SNCF Connect Brand Director Marie Perrin and Social Media and Influence Manager Anaïs Pas reveal how their reimagined influencer strategy has evolved from a transactional tool to a cornerstone of brand storytelling and long-term advocacy, while sharing insights on integrating influencer partnerships with traditional marketing efforts—from acquisition and conversion to upper-funnel campaigns.
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Marie Perrin: Our perspective at SNCF Connect is that influencer marketing has become an essential component of an effective marketing mix. The challenge for us was to develop an influencer strategy that aligns with the brand’s unique positioning and objectives.
To give some context, SNCF Connect is primarily known as a distributor of sustainable mobility services. We are the application that allows users to book and purchase train tickets, although we also provide other transport solutions. Given our role as a distributor with high brand awareness, the key question for us was how to implement an influencer strategy that adds value and complements our existing marketing efforts.
We already have strong acquisition and conversion campaigns, powerful e-commerce initiatives, and upper-funnel brand campaigns. So, our objective was to ensure that influencer marketing contributes meaningfully within this well-established mix. About a year ago, we reevaluated our approach to influencer marketing, shifting its focus toward brand image and advocacy. Our goal is to use influencer marketing as a channel for brand storytelling, promoting our services through authentic content creators who naturally align with our values and audience.
Anaïs Pas: That’s right. Before this shift, there wasn’t a dedicated influencer marketing expertise within SNCF Connect. When Marie and I had the opportunity to develop an influencer marketing strategy, we wanted to ensure it was fully integrated into our communication strategy, rather than just running isolated influencer campaigns.
Our goal is to make SNCF Connect a reflex for travelers, not just a brand that partners with creators for occasional collaborations. We work with content creators who genuinely love train travel and have already built a personal connection with it. This ensures our campaigns feel natural and seamlessly fit into their lifestyle content. By doing so, our messages resonate more authentically with their audiences.
Rather than a one-off, transactional approach, we are committed to long-term influencer relationships. Our strategy is to professionalize and structure our collaborations, ensuring they grow from real, organic relationships between the creators and our brand.
Marie Perrin: We track our campaigns on a case-by-case basis but also take a broader perspective to demonstrate how influencer marketing contributes to brand perception and indirectly drives traffic. Campaign by campaign, we analyze key metrics such as communication cadence, audience affinity with influencers, and sentiment analysis from comments.
As a retail company, we also rely on attribution models to measure the short-, medium-, and long-term impact of influencer marketing. Even though our primary goal is brand awareness, we are trying to track via econometric models how influencer marketing contributes to incremental business growth for SNCF Connect.
However, we absolutely avoid direct comparisons between influencer campaigns and traditional performance marketing campaigns. Comparing the impact of influencer marketing to conversion-driven tactics would be like comparing apples and oranges—they serve different objectives. Instead, we position influencer marketing as a complementary pillar within our overall strategy.
Anaïs Pas: Exactly. For example, our recent campaign with Mosimann (@mosimannofficial, 340K followers, Instagram) illustrates this approach. He is a well-known DJ with significant influence in the music industry. We collaborated with him and another lifestyle and music influencer, Styleto (@styleto, 794K followers Instagram), to create content around the idea of “Le track rêvé SNCF Connect" as part of our 2024 retrospective campaign.
This campaign was successful because it told a compelling story that aligned with their travel habits. The content resonated with their communities, ranking among Mosimann’s top five videos. This success demonstrated how well-crafted influencer collaborations can enhance brand engagement and perception. We are looking to continue working with Mosimann and other ambassadors in 2025 to build long-term relationships rather than one-off activations.
Marie Perrin: We believe influencer marketing should be a long-term strategy rather than one-off activations. Our influencer mapping helps us identify key opinion leaders who align with our target audience and business goals. We have mapped out approximately nine profiles that fit our brand values and audience demographics.
This mapping allows us to activate influencers strategically based on campaign needs—whether it's commercial messaging, brand storytelling, CSR initiatives, or product-focused content. We ensure ongoing collaborations throughout the year rather than sporadic engagements.
The mapping is a simple but valuable tool. We created a framework with key criteria such as influencer lifestyle, affinity with train travel, and digital savviness. This allows us to quickly identify the best collaborators and avoid spreading our efforts too thin. It also helps different teams within SNCF Connect coordinate and avoid overlapping outreach efforts.
Marie Perrin: There was influencer marketing before, but 18 months ago, we repositioned it as a brand awareness and engagement tool, rather than purely a conversion tool. Before that, influencer marketing was mainly leveraged for business-driven, short-term campaigns.
The best way to get internal buy-in is through tangible success stories. When we showcase well-executed campaigns, like the Mosimann collaboration, it becomes clear how influencer marketing supports brand objectives differently than performance marketing. This proof-by-example approach has helped internal teams understand the value of influencer marketing.
Anaïs Pas: Absolutely. By demonstrating real results, other teams have become more engaged. We worked a lot with the PR and Corporate Communications teams to co-developed our influencer strategy, to ensure alignment and avoid a fragmented approach.
We’ve also established clear guidelines on paid collaborations, disclosure practices, and strategic objectives. This transparency helps everyone understand how influencer marketing fits within SNCF Connect’s broader strategy.
Marie Perrin: Clear communication is key. If different teams reach out to the same influencer with different messaging, it can dilute the impact of our campaigns. Our mapping system helps us keep track of influencer partnerships and maintain consistency in our messaging.
Anais: The industry is becoming increasingly professionalized. More creators are seeking long-term brand relationships rather than one-off collaborations. Many of the creators we work with already use SNCF Connect, making it easier to build authentic partnerships.
We are also giving creators more creative freedom. Since they genuinely use and understand our platform, they can suggest content ideas that feel organic rather than scripted. We see the future of influencer marketing as being based on trust and long-term collaboration rather than rigid campaign structures.
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