Despite the political crisis, French companies remain highly rated in the international press

French CAC 40 companies maintain a generally positive image in the international press, according to a new barometer of media “soft power” produced by pressrelations.

The image of our industrial flagships resists in the foreign press shows a brand new barometer intended to evaluate the media “softpower” of our CAC 40 champions. In other words: the image of France abroad through its companies listed on the Paris stock exchange. This first observatory of its kind is the pressrelations company, one of the European leaders in media monitoring and analysis. It’s a new perspective at a time when many are wondering about a certain decline in our economy.

The pressrelations agency analyzed the media treatment of our multinationals in more than 190 countries to see how French companies were judged and perceived on the spot. These are the recent data for the third quarter (July-September) that Franceinfo reveals exclusively. The media tone index for CAC 40 companies is at 3.4 points, or “rather positive”, on a scale of 5: “negative, rather negative, mixed, rather positive, positive”.

Many criteria were scrutinized such as compliance with CSR (Social and Environmental Responsibility) regulations, ESG criteria for good sustainable development management, employability, etc. It emerges that the media visibility of a company abroad does not depend only on its size, but above all on its strategy and its social and societal performances.

The podium of companies with the strongest media influence abroad is made up of Renault, Airbus and Stellantis. Among those we talk about the most, there are also Schneider Electric and Essilor. The podium of leaders who have the most echoes is made up of Bernard Arnault (LVMH), Luca de Meo (Kering) and Carlos Tavares, former manager of PSA-Peugeot Citröen. This investigation echoes the remarks of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, Tuesday November 4, at the Assizes de la Mer in La Rochelle. The head of state castigated those who prevent “champions to conquer new markets”making a barely veiled allusion to the vote on several amendments taxing multinationals as part of the budget debate in Parliament.