APEF: good humour as a brand pillar

Cleaning, ironing, childcare, gardening, help for seniors… At first sight, nothing to set a creative’s heart racing. And yet APEF has decided to dust off the home services sector. Literally and figuratively. As Alexis Ferrebeuf’s guest on the Entertainment Lab, Mélissa Capdepont, marketing and communications director at APEF, explains how this network of 180 agencies cultivates its difference: closeness, good humour and above all a fierce desire to help people.

Along the way, a few marketing lessons that deserve a quick wipe of the cloth.

The real product? Time for the people you love.

Mélissa Capdepont started her career in Canada, before joining M6 and the world of special digital operations. Then off to the south of France, at APEF. A change of scenery, but not of philosophy: she loves people, creativity and companies that have something useful to offer. At APEF, she found all three.

Because behind cleaning, odd jobs or home help, the company actually sells something far more precious: time to live and to enjoy your loved ones. Spending a moment with your parents rather than doing their shopping. Playing with your children rather than chasing household chores. And sometimes, simply allowing an isolated person to find someone to talk to.

A genuine emotional promise, valid for other sectors too: put the accent (a southern one) on what your offer changes in people’s lives.

The smile, beyond the logo

APEF calls itself the “smile brand” of home services. A stance that might seem a little easy. Except that Mélissa describes a company where human closeness is found on every floor: in relationships with clients, in the daily life of the carers and right down to the profile of its franchisees. Former marine firefighters, nurses, salespeople, young graduates or professionals changing careers: the paths are many, but the same motivation keeps coming back, “the desire to help and to be close to people”.

That closeness also shows in its recruitment policy. At APEF, you can arrive without a CV, be trained, grow and sometimes go from home carer to agency manager. According to Mélissa, 20% of the network’s managers come from the field. Great material for storytelling.

Real human values of openness and connection, proven by the people who bring the company to life, with no need to write them in capital letters on a wall.

Reaching seniors without dancing on TikTok

Another refreshing lesson: Mélissa does not systematically chase the latest trendy social network. Her main target? The over 65s. Whose favourite media are television, radio, Facebook and local initiatives. APEF notably sponsored France Télévisions game shows over the summer. To build national awareness, the brand launched a TV spot with a deliberately simple, memorable jingle: “et paf APEF”. Ten seconds with a sound hook and repetition. Not enough to win a Grand Prix at Cannes, but a deliberate mechanism to lodge the brand in people’s minds.

Mélissa is also working on new digital levers, especially the visibility of agencies in the answers given by AI (GEO), because for a franchise the strategy has to work on two levels: building national awareness while giving each agency the means to shine locally.

Advice that applies to any sector: the right medium is not the newest one. It is the one your audience uses.

Growing old, yes. But with a smile

Mélissa also defends a conviction that could inspire many brands: it is time to change the way we portray our elders. Seniors travel, laugh, go out, have plans and desires. In short, they live. Mélissa watches with interest the foreign and French brands that manage to talk about ageing with humour.

A challenge for advertisers as much as for media and entertainment: moving beyond conventional portrayals to show people as they are, not as clichés imagine them.

In short

With APEF, Mélissa Capdepont reminds us of three essential things: a brand gains by telling what it brings to people rather than what it sells; authenticity is often found in the stories of its staff; and a good media strategy starts with knowing your audience, not with the latest TikTok trend.

Above all, she shows that you can talk about sensitive subjects without being gloomy, and talk about ageing without forgetting good humour.

A conversation that makes you smile. And a few good ideas for a clean sweep of our marketing reflexes.

*Listen to Mélissa Capdepont with Alexis Ferrebeuf on the Entertainment Lab, the New Tone Studio podcast, here (in French). And to brief us with joy and good humour, it’s here.