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How does “Emily in Paris” compare to life at a creative agency?

One can’t watch Emily in Paris and not be a little bit intrigued about Emily’s career. The beautiful sights, the fancy parties and elaborate outfits, and long afternoons at fabulous cafés – all perks of working in marketing! Right?

…right?

If you haven’t seen Emily in Paris, it’s a Netflix show that follows Emily Cooper, a Chicagoan marketing executive, when she lands a job at her agency’s sister company in Paris. The show is known for its romantic views of Paris, glamorous fashion, and Emily’s over-the-top marketing campaigns. While it’s very fun to watch, and definitely binge-worthy, it got me thinking about how its portrayal of life at a creative agency compares to actual life at a creative agency. If you don’t work in this space, it could almost paint a convincing picture of what this work is all about. 

So let’s break down how this show compares to life at Alphabet^® (Spoiler alert: I prefer real agency life).

Client Relationships

In the show, Emily often learns about a new client and their request just days, if not hours, before they need to present an idea for a grandiose campaign or rebrand. She almost always has brilliant, unprompted ideas come to her while she’s frolicking around Paris, and her campaign ideas seem to come together like *that*. She’s often seen running into a meeting with her client (without ever having spoken to them before), presents an idea that nobody else at her agency has heard about, and the client immediately loves it. 

In real life, agency-client relationships take time and work to build trust, and get to know the brand. At Alphabet^®, we take pride in building strong relationships with our clients. We immerse ourselves in their brands – we work as partners, not service providers. When we present ideas to clients, it’s after many hours of collaboration between our teams, strategy, research and refinement. We conduct stakeholder sessions to uncover their story, and competitive analyses to look at where they fit in the market and where there are gaps to fill. It’s not about creating a brand, it’s about uncovering one. 

With the initial discovery completed, we can begin the next part of the process which is the overall brand strategy. We take a holistic look at what a brand has to offer – from messaging frameworks to creative development to web presence to media strategy and placements. Our goal is to make sure a brand’s presence is seamless, powerful, and effective. In order for that to happen, we need to look at a brand from every angle. There’s a 360^o approach to be taken, and that doesn’t happen overnight. 

While Emily manages to pull together campaigns within two days, real-life creative processes work differently. It’s not just about making something that looks good; it’s about making something that works. It involves smart strategy, nimble problem-solving, and precise execution.

Team collaboration

In Emily in Paris, Emily works as a one-woman show – she acts as an account manager, creative director, content strategist, and designer all in one. She singlehandedly brings ideas to her clients and campaigns to life, while her coworkers work on separate accounts. 

In real life, agencies are based on collaboration. Each person has their own expertise that they bring to the table, and it’s only by working together that a project can go from a simple request to a fully executed finished product. Aside from skills, different life experiences also bring the necessary unique perspectives that help bring a well-rounded brand to life. Diversity fuels creativity, and we can lean on our team to act as a sounding board to refine ideas. 

We collectively define a project’s vision and ensure it aligns with our client’s business goals. Our writer develops a content strategy and messaging framework that is the foundation for the project. Our art directors craft visuals that tell a compelling story. Our web developers create a digital environment that runs seamlessly. Our media team strategically brings the work out to the world. Our account managers ensure the project is exceeding our client’s expectations and staying on track. Each team member brings their own unique skills that work synergistically to tell our clients’ stories.

Office culture

On Emily in Paris, Emily’s days are filled with casual meetings sipping at cafés, leisurely strolls through Paris, and glamorous events at night. While that certainly looks like a dream job, the reality of agency life involves a lot more behind-the-scenes work.

At Alphabet®, we thrive being in the office together—problem-solving, brainstorming, and bringing creative ideas to life. We can brainstorm in the boardroom, writing ideas down. We can stop by someone’s office and ask how they’re doing if we see they’re having a bad day. We can connect quickly after presentations to make revisions and a gameplan for the next phase of a project. Not to mention, being in the office together allows for lunchtime ping pong tournaments,  puzzling with coworkers when you just need a little brain break, and celebrating our teams’ work anniversaries with treats! 

Our office culture also includes our annual Spirit Week, where our bold style choices almost reach the calibre of Emily and her team’s eccentric daily fashion. You might not see us at galas like the ones Emily seems to attend weekly, but our work keeps us on an adventure of our own as we move from client to client, and industry to industry… and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

What Emily in Paris Gets Right

What the show gets right is that working at a marketing agency is fun. Bringing brands to life, and witnessing our team turn a simple request into a beautiful, creative, and effective end product is gratifying. I love working with local destinations, building strategies to increase their presence and notoriety to rival the Eiffel tower. The work I do with tourism clients may not end up on a Netflix show (never say never!) but the results from bringing these brands to life are fulfilling in a tangible way.

Emily in Paris is a fun watch, and it’s never a bad thing when shows want to highlight the thrill of working in an agency! But while Emily might be galavanting around Paris, we’re working with our clients to create work worthy of national acclaim. That’s not an exaggeration, either. Year after year our work is recognized for its excellence, whether it’s our work with Tourism Kingston on the solar eclipse, our strategy and development of the REALTOR.ca Living Room program, the work we do on CREA’s REAL TIME podcast, our expertise delivers award-winning results. If you’re ready to see the power a real agency can provide, get in touch today.