Founded in 1994 by Mercedes Erra and Rémi Babinet, BETC believes in the power of creativity to drive business results. The agency works with over one hundred brands, including CANAL+, evian, Louis Vuitton, Lacoste, McDonald’s, Disneyland Paris, LEGO and many more. With culture running as a thread through its DNA, BETC creates new synergies and produces its own content in the fields of music, film, art, publishing and design.
Bertille Toledano and Stéphane Xiberras lead BETC France (BETC Paris, BETC ETOILE ROUGE, BETC Design, BETC Corporate, General Pop, Magasins généraux).
BETC is the largest agency in Europe, one of the most awarded in the world and creator of historic campaigns like the evian Rollerbabies (230 million views — Guinness Book of Records) and The Bear for Canal+ which is the most awarded advertising film in history. More recent work includes the wildly successful Save Our Species campaign for Lacoste (2018), that saw the famous crocodile logo being replaced by endangered animals; Game Chaingers for Unicef (2018), a groundbreaking project using blockchain technology to raise money for the Syrian Childrens’ Programme; Seetroën, the first glasses to cure motion sickness, invented for Citroën (2018) and LEGO’s first global brand campaign in 30 years “Rebuild the World” (2019).
In 2020, BETC was named Eurobest and Club des DA Agency of the Year, Effie Agency of the Year for the third consecutive year and in 2019 Adweek’s International Agency of the Year.
In 2021, BETC won the Film Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions festival for Lacoste ending a thirty-year drought for France in the most prestigious category.
In 2022, BETC was named among the Contagious Pioneers by the prestigious trade publication Contagious, the only French agency among the selection.
In 2023, BETC was ranked n°3 in the world and is the only French agency in the 2021 WARC Top Agencies, this ranking is a measure of the most awarded creative agencies.
BETC is a patron of cultural institutions such as the Paris Philharmonic and the Museum of Immigration, and is a leading force in the development Greater Paris. Rémi Babinet presides over a corporate endowment fund promoting arts and culture for the future destinations of the Grand Paris Express. In May 2016, he was named one of the 10 greatest creative directors of all time by Forbes magazine.
In 2016, BETC began a new chapter by moving to Les Magasins Généraux, a 215,000 square feet former warehouse in the heart of Greater Paris. With the help of a handpicked team of architects and designers the building was turned into a creative workspace of the future. It is now home to BETC’s 1,100 employees, cultural and business partners, a contemporary art centre and artists-in-residence.
Gender equality is a founding value for BETC. It was proud to be one of the first companies in France to be given the “Label Egalité”, a recognition it has held since 2005. Sustainability and caring for the environment are important pillars of Les Magasins Généraux and in 2019 the United Nations Global Compact classed BETC as “advanced” for its CSR politics.
More than a workplace, Magasins généraux is a cultural center founded by BETC in 2017 that is part of the booming social, cultural and economic ecosystem of Greater Paris. Born out of the belief that culture and the arts bring people together, Magasins généraux aims to be a creative centre that contributes to the energy of an emerging Greater Paris. Through its cultural activities, Magasins généraux combines the worlds of creativity and commerce and offers a unique, relevant and new platform for brands to express themselves. A recent example being the latest exhibition Futures of Love in collaboration with Tinder that brought over 30,000 visitors to Pantin. In February 2018, Magasins généraux and Enlarge Your Paris launched the first ever cultural city guide for Greater Paris – Le Guide des Grands Parisiens. The Guide was sold out in independent libraries and online by the end of March, one month after its launch, and a second edition, in both English and French, is scheduled for spring 2020.
https://magasinsgeneraux.com/en/
