Balancing creativity and compliance.

What makes the Crédit Agricole Group's Regional Banks unique is their regional autonomy. Like the other Regional Banks, Crédit Agricole Ile-de-France relies on the power of the Crédit Agricole brand while targeting a regional audience. "We are part of the group while forging very close ties with the people of the Ile-de-France region," explains Peggy. " To do this, we are developing a certain amount of content specific to the Regional Bank, with a specific creative approach."

However, the communications team faced several challenges when trying to execute its strategy. The workflow for managing, creating, and delivering content was fragmented, with non-integrated tools and processes slowing down productivity. The team juggled multiple tools for design and planning, as well as separate platforms for scheduling posts. Each step required switching between applications, exporting files, and waiting for email feedback.

Another crucial issue, specific to the banking sector, was compliance. Dugas-Dhombres emphasizes that as a financial institution, confidentiality and security are mandatory. “Any new tool had to meet strict data protection and regulatory standards,” she says.

That's when Crédit Agricole Ile-de-France became, as part of a Group initiative, a Adobe Express pilot team — an opportunity that allowed them to test and use the platform.

Deploy creative potential in full compliance.

Before Crédit Agricole Ile-de-France became a pilot team, the IT and legal departments reviewed Adobe Express and Adobe Firefly and approved them as preferred solutions for internal and external use. “Adobe Express and Firefly are commercially secure,” says Dugas-Dhombres. “The content stays in our environment, and Adobe doesn't use our data to train its AI. That was essential for us in a regulated industry.”

The Adobe Customer Success & Strategy team played a key role in the success of the project. Through dedicated training sessions, they helped the team adopt generative AI confidently and responsibly. “They didn't just show us where to click," says d'Yvoire-Vignon. "They guided us, shared best practices for prompts, and taught us how to optimize the use of the platform. But we are still far from using the full potential of Adobe solutions, I am convinced that we will continue to improve our content!”

Adobe Express quickly became the go-to creative tool for the team. Instead of switching between apps, they can now design, resize, schedule, and publish directly from a single platform. The scheduling feature replaced an old project management and collaboration tool, giving everyone — from managers to interns — real-time visibility into the editorial calendar.

“Adobe Express changed everything,” says Dugas-Dhombres. “We now have a single space to see what's planned, create our visuals, and even schedule posts. It's collaborative, simple, and saves us a lot of time.”

The team estimates that they save at least an hour per day by avoiding back-and-forth between multiple tools and validation delays. For the seven-person communications team, this frees up hours per week that they can now devote to strategy and community management.

Promoting respect for branding to gain efficiency.

To ensure brand consistency,Crédit Agricole Ile-de-France collaborated with design agency Les Jumelles to create a library of more than 30 Adobe Express templates. These templates, designed based on the bank's visual identity, are locked to prevent any unauthorized modifications to brand elements. Team members can only edit text and images, allowing any employee to produce high-quality visuals while adhering to brand guidelines.

“With the templates locked in Adobe Express, I no longer have to worry about mistakenly changing our colours, fonts, or logos," says d'Yvoire-Vignon. “This reassures us and ensures perfect consistency.”

When the team needs images, they rely on the vast Adobe Stock library to enrich communications materials with quality visuals.

The streamlined workflow also promotes real-time collaboration. Recently, d'Yvoire-Vignon and a colleague co-created a visual for a social media teaser. “She prepared a first version in Adobe Express, I made a few adjustments, and we finalized it together — all in real time, without exchanging a single email,” d'Yvoire-Vignon says. “Before, it would have taken us much longer.”

Secure creativity with Firefly.

Adobe Firefly, integrated with Adobe Express, enriches creation with the power of AI. The team uses it to quickly generate compliant creative visuals that adhere to legal constraints.

One promotion featured a competition for concert tickets to see an international artist. The Crédit Agricole Ile-de-France was not authorized to show the star or mention the location of the concert. Using Firefly, the team generated an image of the artist’s signature animal on a stage. In five minutes, they produced a unique and compliant visual, perfectly adapted to the campaign.

“Firefly allowed us to quickly circumvent the constraints,” says d'Yvoire-Vignon. “In a few minutes, we had an impactful and compliant visual, ready to use, without waiting or going back and forth.”

Greater consistency, less stress.

The impact of Adobe Express is just as significant for internal communications. The bi-monthly newsletter for employees has high open rates between 87% and 89%. “Previously, resizing and formatting images took a long time,” she says. “Today, it's almost instantaneous. I can focus on storytelling and content quality rather than dimensions.”

Because assets and workflows are centralized in Adobe Express, she can also work on colleagues’ projects or make updates as needed, ensuring continuity even when a team member is away.

This streamlined process has allowed the team to significantly increase their volume of content. “We're producing more than ever, and yet it's less stressful,” says d'Yvoire-Vignon. “We are more present on social media and more responsive to our community. This allows us to remain present in the minds of our audiences.”

Putting creativity in the spotlight.

By saving time and reducing complexity, Crédit Agricole Ile-de-France has turned organizational and technical hurdles into creative opportunities — creating a culture where creativity shines without ever compromising the group's brand compliance and consistency.

“Adobe Express and Firefly have transformed our creative process,” says d'Yvoire-Vignon. “With the freedom to explore new ideas, we're at the forefront of collaboration and content creation.”