Priority 3: sharing the social and cultural diversity of activities
Europe 1’s Trophées de l'avenir award winners, January 2020 (Paris, France).
Sharing social and cultural diversity means ensuring the dissemination to as many people as possible, thanks to the Group’s talents, activity and various partnerships, the additional education, culture and freedom that form the basis of our society’s ability to live together.
This diversity is reflected in a number of ways. The diversity of publishing houses (over 150 different names) that form a constellation of writers, languages and content (literature, education, practical etc.) is central to Hachette Livre’s model. This diversity is reflected for example through the Changing the Story programme in United Kingdom, the Read our World programme in the United States, or the Feminismos collection in Spain. It is this diversity that fuels the Group’s other commitments, such as its commitment towards freedom of expression and plurality of ideas, as symbolised by Hachette Livre’s ongoing support of Pen International’s Publishers’ Circle (which defends freedom of expression and freedom to publish where these freedoms are under threat) or Relay’s partnership with the charity Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans frontières). The Group’s commitment also extends to access to education, knowledge and entertainment, which was reinforced in particular with the ramp up of the mobile games and board games business, the strong growth of audio books, and also the adoption of specific formats supporting the readability of digital content for people with reading difficulties.
But access to education also means promoting reading – via a number of initiatives such as Le Camion qui livre a mobile library launched by Le Livre de Poche – and raising awareness about the major challenges facing society, with for example the Europe 1 Trophées de l’avenir awards for people or businesses coming up with innovations to support the sustainable and harmonious society of the future.
Furthermore, the diversity of the countries in which the Group operates allows it to promote specific products and services in each region. For example, at over 4,800 Lagardère Travel Retail stores in 39 countries and around one thousand airports, mainline and urban train stations, this diversity is expressed in particular through the local products on offer at foodservice outlets and Discover stores.
Lastly, this cultural and social diversity – which is specific to the Group’s activities, also concerns the impact that, like all companies, the Lagardère group has on a local level in the various regions in which it operates, as well as in its relationships with its partners and suppliers.
Key figure
150 publishing brands illustrate Hachette Livre’s editorial diversity on an international level.