Emily In Paris: Top Marketing Takes From Season 3
*Warning: major spoilers below for Season 3 of Emily In Paris. If you haven’t yet watched all 10 episodes, bookmark this page and come back once you have!*
While we love Emily In Paris for many reasons, one of our favourites is for the social media and PR advice Emily gives her clients. If you’ve ever wondered if her suggestions would *actually* work IRL, this review is for you! We’ve rounded up and ranked this season’s most notable campaigns from least to most likely to have us saying oh, la, la!
#7. The Category: AI Filters
The Situation: Based on the bizarre coincidence of people often looking like their pets, Savior pitches a pet food company on using AI Filters for people to actually (well, virtually) become their pets.
Our Take: AI Filters are trending and you should expect to see more of this in 2023. So from a trend perspective, this idea is on point. It’s splashy and it’ll garner brand attention. However, this does seem like more of a novelty and will likely only appeal to a certain demographic, and we would argue that not all pet owners would dive into this.
#6. The Category: Traditional PR - Optimizing New Markets
The Situation: Emily is given the opportunity to pitch McDonald’s on how best to launch their limited-time menu item, the McBaguette. Poising it as “un petit plaisir” (a little luxury), they would creatively use George Gershwin famous song, ‘S Wonderful, but replace the main words with “McWonderful, McMarvelous, McParadise, McBaguette.”
Our Take: McDonald’s is a global brand with incredible reach. Using this well-known song in their marketing would likely catch on and have the brand top of mind. We do wonder, however, if people would buy into the idea of the McBaguette as a ‘little luxury’. Based on our experience in North America, that would be hard to do. However, the McDonald’s that Gabriel takes Emily to is definitely next level. So our verdict on this campaign remains TBD and totally depends on how quickly we can get to Paris to see this McDonald’s for ourselves.
#5. The Category: Experiential PR
The Situation: Savior pitches French clothing line, Ami Paris, on an experiential PR idea to make a splash and increase brand awareness. With the aim of celebrating the romance of the brand in the city it calls home, they use the brand’s heart ‘balloon’ logo as inspiration, and propose hot air balloons featuring the logo, floating above the french countryside for couples to enjoy. The tagline: Love is in the air.
Our Take: This is a fun and unique idea that’s sure to grab attention - which is exactly the purpose. Assuming the hot air balloon rides are free, it’s a great way to introduce the brand and communicate the level of luxury their clothing offers to new and old customers.This would undoubtedly result in great social coverage and be truly memorable.
#4. The Category: Crisis Management PR
The Situation: After Pierre Cadault signed his company away, he was going to be publicly ousted and humiliated by the new owners. Using an unfortunate incident to their benefit (ie. Pierre was hit by a car, luckily with no major injuries), Savoir let people believe he had succumbed to his injuries. It is soon revealed, however, that Pierre didn’t die, just his brand had.
Our Take: Setting aside the morality of what was done, they executed this crisis management plan flawlessly. Would we personally do this? No. But they did manage to get ahead of what would have been an embarrassing situation and successfully put the power back in their client’s hands. They were the first to announce Pierre was stepping aside and pursuing his new brand, avoiding what surely could have been a career ending moment.
#3. The Category: Limited edition collabs/products
The Situation: Ahead of their latest perfume release, Antione and his team realize that the majority of their lavender perfume batch is unusable. Emily pitches the quick idea of turning this mishap into an opportunity, suggesting they release the bottles they do have as a limited edition collection to their most valued clients. Due to supply and demand, this will help drive up prices of the coveted perfume once it reaches the markets
Our Take: We love this idea! Releasing limited edition products and/or collabs is a great way to pique interest and get people talking. We do want to note that it’s important to choose who’s marketing the product wisely. For example, if a brand is only working with 10 influencers, they should make sure that each one is really engaged with the brand’s target audience and also aligned with the brand’s values.
#2. The Category: Piggy-backing clients to create success for everyone
The Situation: Savior saw an opportunity to include several of their clients in one event, all based around the limited edition purple McLaren. Hosting it at Antione’s Lavender farm, they also marketed his perfume and included Gabriel as the event’s caterer.
Our Take: We love this and it’s definitely a tried and true tactic with our clients. Of course, it’s very important that all brands involved fit into the same niche and make sense being paired together. Overall, this is a great way to further exposure for each of the brands involved and hopefully introduce them to new customers in their target audience.
#1. The Category: Influencer Marketing
The Situation: Our number one PR/social media campaign goes to Emily herself! Throughout her time in Paris, Emily has successfully built up her following, and this season she took us behind-the-scenes of her social media while unemployed. Everyday she went live and incorporated her audience’s suggestions on where to go, what to eat, what to see and what to do.
Our Take: Emily markets herself so well; she’s quirky and true to who she is. This results in a huge following that’s highly engaged. She even ends up on the coveted La Liste due to an industry connection she makes because of her social media presence. Her authenticity shines through and this is so, so important. In fact, authenticity ranks as one of the most important trends and influences across social media for 2023!
And there you have it: Our rankings of the 7 most notable PR/social campaigns of Emily In Paris, season 3! Tag us on social and let us know which one was your favourite at @springmediaco.com. We can’t wait to see what Emily does next; Here’s to hoping season 4 is out ASAP!