A French Startup Compares Founding a Company to Having a Baby in Its First National TV Ad
Updated: Sep 1
TL;DR: Nancy-based company-formation startup Swapn has launched its first national TV campaign, comparing launching a business to having a baby — a digital B2B challenger betting on linear TV for brand-building beyond performance channels.
A digital startup goes to national TV
Swapn, a Nancy-based business-creation startup, has launched its first national TV campaign, reported on 24 August 2026. Created by Kazam (part of Biggie Group) with media by Haiku, the campaign compares launching a company to having a baby — a warm, relatable metaphor for an otherwise dry administrative process.
It's a two-wave campaign running from 10 August to October 2026 across TF1, M6, TMC, BFM TV, RMC, LCI and L'Équipe, using 30-second and 23-second spots. Founded in 2022 with 54 employees, Swapn offers digital company formation with human support.
Why a performance-led startup embraces TV
Digital-native startups typically live on performance channels — search, social, retargeting — because they're measurable. Swapn stepping up to national TV signals confidence that brand-building reach, not just performance, drives long-term growth.
The context supports the bet: France saw 1.165 million business creations in 2025, up 4.9% year on year. In a large, growing market, broad awareness becomes worth paying for — you can't retarget people who've never heard of you.
Marketing Minute's read: the 95-5 rule in action
Our take: this is the 95-5 principle at work — at any moment only about 5% of potential customers are in-market, so the job of brand advertising is to build memory with the 95% who will buy later. TV's broad reach is well suited to that, which is why even performance-first startups eventually graduate to it.
The creative choice reinforces the strategy. An emotional, human metaphor — starting a business as having a baby — builds the kind of memory and warmth that performance ads rarely do, the right tool for a brand-building objective.
What businesses should take from it
Performance and brand are complementary, not rival, budgets. Once performance channels mature, broad-reach brand building captures future demand that retargeting can't.
Match creative to objective. Brand-building work should be emotional and memorable; save the rational, feature-led messaging for the performance funnel where intent already exists.
Quick FAQ
What is Swapn's first TV campaign?
It's a two-wave national TV campaign by Kazam with media by Haiku, reported 24 August 2026, comparing founding a company to having a baby. It runs 10 August–October 2026 across TF1, M6, TMC, BFM TV, RMC, LCI and L'Équipe.
Who is Swapn?
A Nancy-based startup founded in 2022 with 54 employees, offering digital company formation with human support.
Why would a digital startup advertise on TV?
To build broad brand awareness and future demand. France saw 1.165 million business creations in 2025 (+4.9%), and TV reach captures the majority of buyers who aren't in-market yet — something performance channels can't do.
This is the 95-5 rule in action: at any moment only about 5% of buyers are in-market, so brand advertising exists to build memory with the 95% who'll buy later. That's why even performance-first startups eventually graduate to TV — you can't retarget someone who's never heard of you. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Performance and brand aren't rival budgets — once performance matures, broad-reach brand building captures the future demand retargeting can't.
Are you only harvesting the 5% in-market today, or building memory with the 95% who'll buy later?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: e-marketing.fr, Stratégies, Idée Marketing.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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