Danone makes children happy

BY SANDY STRASSER

(Published in The Produktkulturmagazin issue 3 2015)

Making a healthy diet – and therefore being healthy –possible for so many people, that is the mission of Danone. This topic has always been closely linked to the company history and its products. But the company also wants to be a role model on the subject of exercise and therefore regularly initiates the Danone Nations Cup, the top event for kids in the world of international football.

The Danone Nations Cup under the patronage of Zinédine Zidane is the largest mixed football competition for children aged 10 to 12 in the U12 category. It is his intention to make a dream come true for as many children as possible across the world. Over the last 16 years he has already brought 2.5 million children together worldwide.  “Taking part in a tournament of this size and having the opportunity to play in Marocco this year is the stuff of dreams for all these children”, says Zinédine Zidane. Following France, South Africa, Poland, Spain, the UK and Brazil last year, Morocco will welcome the 400 young finalists at the end of next October.

Franck Riboud, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Danone, started this initiative in the year 2000 as a world event organised by the Danone group which make the values which Danone stand for tangible and which is to bring together young players in terms of mutual exchange and respect. “Through this event, Danone’s objective is to transmit the values it stands for: proximity, openness, humanism and enthusiasm. This competition is an incredible melting pot where dreams are within everyone’s reach. There is an incredible mind-set and a solidarity chain that goes well beyond all differences”, says Emmanuel Faber, CEO of Danone.

Zinédine Zidane, Danone Nations Cup’s loyal ambassador, has supported the younger generation since the beginning in order to share his unique experience and team spirit, fair play and passion for the game: “Children are present in order to win while respecting each other as well as the rules. It is also a great opportunity for them to learn something about cultures and mostly, to travel for the first time.”

Danone has been present in Morocco for 60 years. The national competitions are sponsored by the royal Moroccan federation of sports in school and the royal Moroccan football federation. These institutions are constant and reliable partners of the tournament who want to encourage thousands of young people to practise sports on a regular basis. Social responsibility is thereby at the heart of the innovative and developmental projects of La Centrale Laitiére-Danone. Organising the international finals of the Nations Cup is evidence of the company’s commitment to a balanced diet and regular exercise.

This Nations Cup is therefore a unique and unforgettable experience around sports, values and emotion which can look back on a long success story and for this reason has gained credibility in the world of international football. This recognition has constantly increased over the years with the involvement of each country and renowned ambassadors such as Vicente Del Bosque from Spain, Cafú from Brazil, Dimitri Berbatov from Bulgaria, Hagi from Romania, Michael Ballack from Germany and David Trézéguet from Argentinia among others. 

Emmanuel Faber says: “For Danone it is more than a competition, it is the perfect illustration of our mission to bring health to as many people as possible through food. Throughout the competition our goal is to educate the public and the participants to adopt healthy eating and physical activity.”

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ADDITIONAL LINKS

www.danone.com
www.danonecup.de

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

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DANONE AND OSUDIO

The Glue Concept

In order to support (IT) uniformity but allow local brand communication, Osudio and Danone Baby Nutrition developed the ‘Glue’ concept: Global Language Unified Experience. This concept allows local variants of the Danone Baby Nutrition brands to communicate along the local brand values but obtain efficiency and synergy on the (IT) delivery domain.

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