“You never invite your spouse to a professional event”: we saw Emily in Paris with the associate director of a consulting firm

"Like Emily, the red thread of my journey is a strong link to creation," says Claire Gallon.

The mission of this associate director of The Salmon Consulting, a consulting firm in business strategy, marketing and innovation, created a year and a half ago within the Havas group, echoes that of Emily Cooper and by Sylvie Grateau, members of the luxury marketing agency Savoir in

.

For eight years now, it has accompanied famous luxury houses on a daily basis, in areas such as fashion, watchmaking and beauty.

“I help management answer the strategic questions they ask themselves,” she comments.

Read alsoIn photos, the unbridled preview of season 3 of

... in Paris

Claire Gallon, who watched season 3 of the show signed Darren Star, unveiled on Netflix on Wednesday December 21, nevertheless cultivates certain differences with Sylvie Grateau, authoritarian boss with barely concealed snobbery, or with Emily Cooper, ready to do anything to "boost his follower count.

Rather, she defines herself as an adviser from the shadows.

She also notes inaccuracies in the way the series depicts life in a luxury marketing agency.

But concedes having lived “exceptional experiences”, between openings, parades, fabulous trips and social evenings.

Miss Figaro.

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is part of the trend of

, of those that we look at to clear our minds and take our dose of good humor.

So the Paris which is the theater and takes shape through the prism of the gaze of a young American, is very idealized, even sometimes very caricatural.

But this new season marks two big changes, in my opinion.

After having been presented as the epicenter of fashion and luxury, Paris is now also transcribed there as the great capital of arts and culture.

We pass from the Museum of Decorative Arts to the Perrotin Gallery, passing by the Opera.

And the difference between this season and the previous ones is that the culture of good French taste is not limited to Paris.

The series takes us to Provence, a nod to creator Jacquemus and chef Jean-François Piège.

How is this Paris, capital of fashion, highlighted in the series?

In the show, everyone works directly or indirectly in the world of fashion.

Including

Mindy's new

), obviously inspired by the son of a great captain of French luxury industry.

Several brands are also represented in season 3, either under their official name, as for Tiffany or AMI, or in a roundabout way, as for JVMA which we imagine to be a reference to LVMH.

The show also underlines that Paris is not only the capital of great French designers, but also that of the young international generation.

Many independent labels, like Ludovic de Saint Sernin, are very visible in the show.

The series is also a media springboard for these young brands.

This season also shows the importance, as consultants, of being anchored in the capital and of fully mastering the French - even European - culture of luxury.

It is important for an agency to master the French - even European - culture of luxury

Claire Gallon

How important is this?

From the first episode, Madeline Wheeler, director of the American marketing agency of their group, tries desperately to keep the customers of the French subsidiary Savoir, without really trying to understand the history of the houses or protect their long-term value.

She tries to attract them by talking to them about business, numbers, short-term growth.

However, in an agency, it is necessary to understand the history of the houses.

My first luxury client was a French house, accompanied by consultants based in New York.

She perceived in them a lack of subtlety in their way of telling the heritage of the brand.

Foreign houses that want to establish themselves in luxury need European legitimacy, because good taste is dictated from Europe.

of

Could you, like Sylvie, want to impose yourself in this kind of ranking?

And have dinner with a journalist to make room for you?

It doesn't work that way.

Agencies are businesses like any other, and respond to obligations and a regulatory framework.

We are trained professionals and experts in our fields.

My job is based on a lot of technicality with an important part of course of relational.

For the purposes of the script, the series does not highlight these aspects.

Even if we exchange daily with journalists, creators and photographers, and that we create affinities with them, my work is carried out on behalf of the client and my role remains confidential.

Nor do I find that Emily's approach, who manages to impose herself professionally thanks to her influence on social networks, is very representative of our professions.

As a consultant,

On a daily basis, do you have schedules as flexible as those of Sylvie Grateau and her employees?

Do you arrive at the office at 10 a.m., and do you take two-hour lunch breaks?

To say that agencies, consulting firms or more generally companies in France allow two-hour lunch breaks is a decoy.

On the other hand, it is true that no one arrives at the agency at the same time because our schedule really depends on that of our clients.

And it is true that we have the chance to discover sublime places and restaurants for internal or client meetings.

The series still omits all the moments that really punctuate the life of an agency - whether it's client worklists (

), morning press reviews, visits, conferences, or taxi calls, which are the third office of the consultant.

Moreover, there is still a real mystery over the way Emily circulates in Paris…

Consultant candidates who would be attracted by this "glitter" aspect alone would be mistaken

Claire Gallon

Do you regularly attend social events, like Sylvie and Emily?

We have access to exceptional experiences, yes.

We are invited to openings, parades and parties...because we sometimes help organize them.

This is part of the job and these moments meet the same professional requirements.

Consultant candidates who would be attracted by this “glitter” aspect alone would be mistaken.

The brand always remains at the heart of attention.

Our role is not to boost our number of followers or to dress ourselves for chaining the catwalks (

), but to be as discreet as possible, to analyze, to exchange and then to do a debrief objective with our customers.

Exactly, do you have a wardrobe as extensive and luxurious as those of Sylvie and Emily?

I would love to have their wardrobe!

When you hold a management position, it is true that it becomes important to develop your own look and master the codes and trends.

But having such a wardrobe is not an obligation, even less for more junior profiles.

For us and our customers, the only thing that matters is not the style of a person, but the ideas that they will bring to us.

We do a lot of traveling for our clients.

Some being abroad means meeting them, visiting their workshops, organizing events… when they plan these stays, we sometimes have the opportunity to have lunch in good restaurants.

One day, one of my Swiss customers took me to taste a delicious raclette after a hike in the snow, for example.

On the other hand, we never invite our spouse or friend to a professional event, as is the case in the series.

Without forgetting that with teleworking and the importance of monitoring our carbon footprint, these trips are carefully considered.

Sylvie is personally attached to her clients, and it shows

Claire Gallon

Sylvie Grateau is an endearing but authoritarian boss, with a barely concealed snobbery.

Do such characters exist in your field?

His authoritarian temperament is not at all characteristic of agency directors.

On the other hand, his character is interesting for his way of leading the agency and its team, and of supporting its clients.

Unlike Madeline, Sylvie cultivates a long-term relationship with her clients.

She is personally attached to them, and it shows.

For example, she continues to advise stylist Pierre Cadault, who can no longer pay her.

I also appreciate her ability to unearth emerging talent, and to put Emily forward during their meetings.

On the other hand, what is not realistic, and above all very inappropriate, is the competition that it establishes between its various collaborators.

For her part, Emily often allows herself solitary outbursts, behind her boss's back, to get out of thorny situations.

Are such individual actions possible in your environment?

Our job is very collaborative.

It's a little less spontaneous and above all much less empirical than the series suggests.

It's not impossible to have, like Emily, a brilliant idea during a client meeting.

But the preparation upstream of these appointments is such that she would have already had this brilliance during an internal meeting.

And above all, our job is to support companies in their strategic thinking, which involves prospective studies, market analyzes that require extremely specialized expertise on a subject.

So many elements that are not visible in the series.

In our job, it's important to have an ear everywhere, all the time

Claire Gallon

Is it possible for an agency to represent a dog food brand, a champagne brand and a highly publicized stylist at the same time?

It's entirely possible.

Working with different sectors of activity promotes creativity and perspective.

For example, discussing with customers in the automotive sector makes it possible to better support those who operate in the watchmaking field.

But it is still important to be somewhat selective in the choice of clients and to enter into a relationship based on the same values;

contrary to what Madeline does, who is in a short-term business approach.

Emily goes so far as to use the information she collects through her personal connections to put it at the service of the agency.

Is it realistic?

In the series, Emily learns through her boyfriend that the Maison Lavaux perfume has "turned" and no longer corresponds to what the creator wanted to market.

The example is quite extreme, but it underlines how important it is to go out, meet people, chat, be engaged and at the same time super discreet, and have an ear everywhere, all the time.

Indeed, collecting information and transforming it in a beneficial way can really bring value to our customers and our ideas.