Interview of Joëlle Richert,
Head of IT Department Communications

‘The idea is to raise awareness of the fact that business data is confidential data. The IS is therefore a company asset and it must be protected.’

What animation allows

‘The animation allows us to identify ourselves but in a way that’s not too close. So it doesn’t make you feel guilty. The series doesn’t hammer home any negative messages; on the contrary, it’s always positive. This has the effect of playing things down. It’s a lighter, funnier way of dealing with subjects, and it’s a very colourful world. There’s always a personal/work life balance, and that’s very important: ‘you don’t do that at home, so why do it at your company?’

The impact of the web series

‘If you do just one speech, you say everything at once and you don’t retain it. The advantage of a series with a recurring character is that it creates expectation. The situations are almost believable. The episodes allow us to become attached to the main character: Gwendal (the spy) has become a well-known and likeable figure at the RATP. The TV series code allows the characters to speak out on all sorts of subjects.
We’re really enjoying watching this new episode. It’s important that raising awareness doesn’t mean forcing people to change their behaviour. That’s much more effective. In fact, you have to create the lack. Goodies are not expensive in relation to what they bring in, so don’t hesitate to vary them. Thanks to them, the characters and the message are always there.’

The importance of the mascot

‘You have to use the main character in the series because it’s a huge advantage to have an IS security mascot. He can be the emblem of all security problems. So it’s never the employee’s fault, it’s always Gwendal’s fault. It allows us to create a whole system that brings the character to life in addition to the series. The mascot allows you to say anything, do anything, it’s really easy to say anything, it’s the best way to say anything because you can blame it for everything.’

A lighter workload for greater efficiency

‘The workload is light. You have to hand over the reins and then the process flows smoothly. The series is still being broadcast today. We reuse it according to what’s going on in the news, to remind people of the best practice at the time. So we need to be recurrent and constantly remind people of good practice. The goodies aspect keeps the message alive. The system has been effective, because we’ve seen real changes in behaviour – all the post-it notes have disappeared. Now people know exactly what IS security is. So we’ve been able to instil a real culture of security. The series has really caught the interest of our employees. They felt the fun and colourful aspect that made it such a success.’