Welcome at iconic.
Strategic communications consultancy
iconic. is a strategic communications consultancy founded in 2022 by Marie-Virginie Klein.
We support companies, organizations and their leaders in their strategy of influence and visibility, with print, audiovisual and digital media, as well as opinion leaders and public authorities, [on a national and international level].
At iconic. we are convinced that the art of execution is fundamental: the right strategy is the one that can actually be implemented.
We’re a close-knit group, with a wide variety of profiles, but united by the same values. We are all convinced that good communication must be committed and connected to contemporary issues. The strategies we propose are always in line with the dynamics at work in society, as we analyze and perceive them.
We want to embody impact consulting, the kind that gives meaning to the transformation and growth of the companies that trust us.
Founder & CEO
Marie-Virginie Klein is the founder of iconic. She has been helping senior executives with their communications for over fifteen years.
For five years she advised leading business and political figures at Giacometti Péron & Associés (No Com), before joining Tilder for 10 years, where she became Deputy Managing Director.
With her strong interpersonal skills, she supports senior executives in their internal and external communications strategies.
For over fifteen years, Marie-Virginie has specialized in managing press and media relations for her clients. In this role, she has handled numerous topics and developed expertise in tech-related issues with clients such as Cegid, Carbios, Luko, Mission French Tech, and Metron.
As a teacher, for 3 years she taught a course in “public and media speaking” to students on the Master 2 in Communication at EFAP (École des nouveaux métiers de la communication), and a course in Territorial Marketing to students at the University of Saint-Denis.
Marie-Virginie regularly appears in French media (franceinfo, Europe 1, BFM TV, LCI, CNews, Public Sénat, France Télévisions, RTL, etc.) to analyze current affairs and politics. Since January 2023, she has been a regular columnist on BFM TV’s Week-end Direct programme.
Marie-Virginie is Vice-Chairwoman of the WILLA incubator, an accelerator, leader in gender equality in technology, which supports over 500 entrepreneurial projects launched by women every year.
She is also the author of the book Femmes dirigeantes, comment elles ont osé, (Plon January 2022).
Marie-Virginie Klein is a graduate of Sciences Po Rennes (IEP) and the University of Ottawa. She holds a Master 2 in Political and Social Communication from the Sorbonne (Paris1). She completed two years of classes préparatoires littéraires aux grandes écoles (hypokhâgne and khâgne).
Associate Director
Jean-Michel Salvator was a journalist for forty years before joining iconic.
Jean-Michel Salvator began his career as a political journalist at France Inter in 1985. He then joined Europe 1 to cover defence, aeronautics and transport issues from 1986 to 1993. He became a business columnist on the Europe 1 morning show until 1998. During the following 25 years, he managed editorial departments, first as number two (Europe 1, Le JDD, Le Figaro) then as number one (BFM Business, the BFMTV and RMC websites, Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France). At the same time, Jean-Michel Salvator was an editorialist on RTL, franceinfo, LCI, BFMTV and BFM Business.
He is currently a columnist for the daily newspaper l’Opinion.
He has lectured at the Centre de Formation des Journalistes (CFJ), Sciences Po and HEC Paris.
Jean-Michel Salvator is the author of a book on the transformation of the media with Francis Morel, the former head of Le Figaro and Les Echos: Les journalistes sont formidables: de Gutenberg à Zuckerberg (Calmann Levy, 2020). He has also co-authored Pouvoirs with Étienne Mougeotte (Calmann Levy, 2021).
He spent two years in consulting at Tilder, before joining iconic.
Senior Partner
Senior Partner at iconic., Maud has been advising executives on their communication strategy for over twenty years.
Maud first worked with leading political figures in Brussels and Paris before transitioning into the communication consulting sector.
Specialist in designing and implementing communication strategies, she also advises executives on institutional relations and crisis communication. She has notably advised leaders in the transport, retail, banking, and insurance sectors, as well as public institutions, in her roles as Director at Tilder and Deputy Managing Director at TBWA\Corporate.
Societal Commitment
Maud has been actively involved in civic and political life for over 20 years. She has been a local elected official since 2014 and is currently group president at the Paris Council. She served as a Member of Parliament in the French National Assembly from 2021 to 2024.
Academic Background
A graduate of Sciences Po Bordeaux, Maud holds a Master’s degree in European Studies from Cardiff University and a DESS in Communication from Celsa.
She regularly shares her expertise and experience with students at Audencia, Efap, and Celsa.
Senior Partner
Communications Expert, Philippe Moreau Chevrolet frequently appears in the media (BFMTV, LCI, CNews, France 2, France 5, Canal+, C8, franceinfo, RTL, Europe 1…). He is also a professor of political communication at Sciences Po Paris.
He founded MCBG Conseil in 2012.
After completing a postgraduate degree at the University of Panthéon-Assas, where he studied under Lucien Sfez, Philippe Moreau Chevrolet joined the 50th class of the Paris Center for Journalism Training (CFJ), located on Rue du Louvre in Paris.
Philippe Moreau Chevrolet began his career at Le Monde before moving to the editorial team at La Tribune. From 1999 to 2001, he worked as a producer of 26-minute documentaries for TF1, Arte, and France 5. He is also the author of the graphic novel Le Président, published by Éditions les Arènes in 2020. Additionally, he publishes the newsletter Dirty Politics on Substack.
Director
After working for more than 15 years alongside Pierre Giacometti, notably at the Nocom consultancy, François Backman has provided strategic consulting in public opinion and communication to corporate executives, as well as leading public and governmental decision-makers, both in France and internationally.
He later lived and worked in West Africa for several presidencies and prime ministers.
François holds two degrees from Sciences Po Paris (DEA in 20th Century History; Executive Master in Development Politics and Management – African Potential) and from the University of Paris 1 (DEA in Political Sociology; DEA in Aesthetics and Art Sciences).
Senior consultant
Aurélie Aknin is a specialist in media and influence issues, with expertise in public affairs and politics.
Advising Executives
Before joining iconic., Aurélie worked with executives at the Tilder consultancy. She then joined the Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, where she became part of the office of the Director of the Mission French Tech, serving as her right hand and managing External Relations. Today, she advises iconic.‘s clients on their communication and institutional relations strategy to position their vision in the public debate.
Academic Background
Aurélie Aknin holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs and Interest Representation graduated from Sciences Po Bordeaux (IEP), and has studied Social Sciences at Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico City) and Hankuk University (Seoul).
Consultant
Jordan Vesian is a junior consultant at iconic. He has experience in media relations and journalism. He supports executives in their communication, with particular expertise in enhancing their messages on digital platforms.
Journalism
Jordan Vesian has a deep understanding of the French media landscape. He has had the opportunity to experience it from the inside within several local newsrooms, where he worked as a journalist and presenter. He began his career at RCF before training in public relations at Oxygen Group.
Academic Background
Jordan Vesian holds a Master’s degree in Public Communication and Influence from EFAP, and a Master’s Degree in Marketing and Communication from Vern University.
Junior Consultant
Chief of staff
With a legal background, Caroline Aufrère began her career in judicial and legal advertising for 8 years, before joining a law firm as a legal assistant for 6 years.
She joined the Iconic. team in January 2023 as Chief of Staff.
Caroline is the trusted person, a sort of “woman of all trades” for all the functional matters of the company.
Founder & CEO
Marie-Virginie Klein is the founder of iconic. She has been helping senior executives with their communications for over fifteen years.
For five years she advised leading business and political figures at Giacometti Péron & Associés (No Com), before joining Tilder for 10 years, where she became Deputy Managing Director.
With her strong interpersonal skills, she supports senior executives in their internal and external communications strategies.
For over fifteen years, Marie-Virginie has specialized in managing press and media relations for her clients. In this role, she has handled numerous topics and developed expertise in tech-related issues with clients such as Cegid, Carbios, Luko, Mission French Tech, and Metron.
As a teacher, for 3 years she taught a course in “public and media speaking” to students on the Master 2 in Communication at EFAP (École des nouveaux métiers de la communication), and a course in Territorial Marketing to students at the University of Saint-Denis.
Marie-Virginie regularly appears in French media (franceinfo, Europe 1, BFM TV, LCI, CNews, Public Sénat, France Télévisions, RTL, etc.) to analyze current affairs and politics. Since January 2023, she has been a regular columnist on BFM TV’s Week-end Direct programme.
Marie-Virginie is Vice-Chairwoman of the WILLA incubator, an accelerator, leader in gender equality in technology, which supports over 500 entrepreneurial projects launched by women every year.
She is also the author of the book Femmes dirigeantes, comment elles ont osé, (Plon January 2022).
Marie-Virginie Klein is a graduate of Sciences Po Rennes (IEP) and the University of Ottawa. She holds a Master 2 in Political and Social Communication from the Sorbonne (Paris1). She completed two years of classes préparatoires littéraires aux grandes écoles (hypokhâgne and khâgne).
Everybody sees it: the world is changing.
The era of the “everyone for themselves”, of the “ego trip”, is over : such an attitude is no longer viable.
No longer ecologically, socially or even economically viable. The question of what we can bring to the community, to the world in general, has become central.
At iconic. we believe that communication cannot remain on the sidelines of this fundamental movement. The quest for buzz and for the Warholian 15 minutes of fame are no longer goals in themselves.
The time has come : in order to be watched and listened to, you have to be able to embody something bigger than yourself.
To be able to expose yourself for the cause you are defending. And to do that, you need to mobilize a wide range of talents and sensibilities.
In the Byzantine tradition, the gold that makes icons shine refers to a sacred light, an inner light that makes these paintings much more than works of art.
Our conviction is that there can be no good communication without the transmission of something like a sacred fire, something that comes from the heart. That’s why we chose the name iconic.
iconic.‘s ambition is to help managers and their companies define, communicate and highlight the ideals that drive them.
This is the only way they can become the true leaders of their sector: by showing that they are making a concrete contribution to the general interest, above and beyond their own particular interests.
These days, it’s no longer enough to be a leader. You have to be a role model.
Be exemplary, iconic. can’t do it for you : but we can help you give and show the best of yourself.
President & founder of iconic.
Communication strategy
Media
Influence
Executive coaching
Editorial
Content creation
Print & digital visibility
CSR communication
Financial communication
We advise senior executives and their companies on their strategy for influencing and communicating in public debate.
We support our clients at every step of the process. We don’t consider our work done until our message has reached its target audience.
On a day-to-day basis, we work closely with our customers and their teams.
iconic. Corporate
iconic. Influence
iconic. Story
iconic. Studio
iconic. Corporate
Communications strategy
Media, print, digital and broadcast visibility
Financial communications
CSR communicationsiconic. Influence
Public affairs
Crisis communicationsiconic. Story
Editorial board
Video content for social media
Creation of editorial contenticonic. Studio
Mediatraining
Training in all forms of public speaking
Our customers are committed. So are we.
Together with our partners, we are helping to promote greater parity and diversity in the economy and to bring out the leaders of tomorrow.
Corporate
La Lettre
Analysis
C Médiatique – France 5
Corporate
iconic.
Opinion
L’Opinion
Media
Hebdo Com — BFM Business