The lesson of Stéphane Richard, beast of stage to the Steve Jobs, to the bosses of the Cac 40

At the Play Hall for his fifth "Hello Show" on April 20, the CEO of Orange is delivering a performance that none of his peers is willing to try.



This is the fifth time that Orange makes its "Hello show". Or rather that CEO Stephane Richard occupies the stage, in the manner of a veteran of the show. A unique performance - this morning was at the Sales play - while at this time of the year its peers of CAC 40 are constrained to the very controlled exercise of the general meeting of shareholders. Stéphane Richard is dreaming every year in Steve Jobs. One way to import this American Dream: easy for Orange to amaze the French scene, but it will be more difficult for him to truly challenge the Big names world of digital.

For all that, it really comes out of rank, within the hexagonal bosses. Nothing to see between reading the resolutions of AG or the PowerPoint financial results with the presentation of the boss of the CAC 40: totally obscure room, neat entrance behind the audience, scene discreetly emphasized, ballet of orange projectors, singer microphone Musical theater, discreetly installed prompters ... The "Hello show" is perfectly timed, and punctuated by the intervention of dancers-choristers, who allow the CEO to drink a little water and recharge for his next development.

In all four sequences, completed in less than 45 minutes, with a tempo of pro: a slightly too politically correct introduction on Orange and the carbon footprint halved for an "augmented planet"; A release on security with the launch of OrangeCyberDefense; A rhythmic presentation of new features, including "Djingo", a multi-tasking connected box that will be released in 2018, capable both of sending SMS on social networks or of fetching the best piece on the piano by Chilly Gonzales Of the boss, pianist at his hours) who tries to align Orange on its great American rivals - Amazon with Alexa, or Apple with Siri on the mobile or Google with Home -; And the big launch of the day, that of Orange Bank, "the first bank designed by digital experts".

Niel, Messier, Dufourcq ...

Other articles will make it possible to evaluate if the specifies of Orange Bank (gratuitousness and total instantaneous in particular) will give reason to Stéphane Richard, who sees a new era in which it is now the operators and the digital giants who will take the Leadership in the financial industry. The CEO nevertheless watched over his relations with the CAC 40 by stating that he had the greatest respect for "old and respectable" establishments - nothing to do so with the message of Xavier Niel of 2011 treating his traditional competitors of "thieves" And their customers of "pigeons".


But apart from this performance of the impertinent boss of Iliad at the time of the launch of Free mobile, it is hard to find "shows" of bosses as successful as that of Stéphane Richard. Perhaps we should go back to the Messier de Vivendi-Universal, before his fall ... Or revisit the big spectacle "Big" that ascended to the Accorhotels Arena of Bercy Nicolas Dufourcq, the general director of Bpi-france. We also remember the impressive heated tower of Frédéric Banzet, CEO of Citroën, presenting C4 Cactus alongside rally driver Sébastien Loeb, the music of Pharrel Williams in the background ... Stéphane Richard imposes himself, Every year, prepares for it ten days before, and this 20th of April, it has still done full house.