Sanofi extends its 'Empowering Life' corporate rebrand with overhaul of digital sites

Sanofi is following up its corporate rebrand with a refresh of its online presence. The Paris-based pharma, which debuted “Empowering Life” as its corporate signature and campaign last fall, has now started rolling out a new consumer-friendly design across its digital presence.

The revamp includes bold new looks and visual-heavy layouts for its in-country websites, which Sanofi plans to cut back to 70 from 140 worldwide. The first five websites to get an overhaul—including the U.S. home page—are already done, with the remaining spruce-ups planned for completion by June.

Each of the new sites will rely heavily on visuals, with about 50% of the content in the form of video or graphics, Frederique Granado, Sanofi head of audiences and content, said in an interview.

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The digital rework is aimed at building a more compelling platform with audience-driven content, Granado said. It's also intended to promote the new corporate signature and simplify the Sanofi digital ecosystem.

“The idea is to understand what people are most interested in,” Granado said. “We know people are very interested in science and innovation content, so that’s why, when you look at the home page, you will see science and innovation at the top, along with our responsibility.”

Under that science and innovation tab is a new two-minute video “The Journey to Discovery,” which lays out the timeline and sequence of steps of how a discovery turns into a medicine. The video begins: “Before it’s prescribed, before it’s taken and before it does its job, the medicine in our medicine cabinet starts as a discovery.”

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The new Sanofi websites will be optimized for viewing on mobile devices as well; Sanofi’s strategy includes using the new design and imagery consistently across its social media platforms.

After the first week, the new design and content garnered positive results from inside the company and out. Initial data after launch shows a bounce rate of around 50%, which is considerably lower than typical corporate website bounce rates of 70% to 90%, Granado said.

Sanofi’s corporate branding effort follows those of other pharma players in the past few years, including Pfizer’s scientist-centered campaign, Astellas’ “meaningful science” effort, and trade association PhRMA’s highlighting of industry innovation in “Go Boldly.”