Learning boundaries from French advertising culture with Youri Guerassimov

The Indian advertising industry has a problem that's hiding in plain sight. Behind the glossy, award-winning campaigns lies a culture of burnout that's taking a serious toll on creative minds. Recent industry reports reveal that advertising professionals in India experience high levels of workplace stress, with many working 12-hour days as standard practice.

A study found that young professionals (aged 27-39) are particularly affected, with 11% reporting high stress levels, exceeding the national average of 9%. The "always-on" mentality has become so normalised that taking a proper lunch break can be seen as a luxury rather than a basic right. This pace isn't just affecting individual well-being; it could be stifling the very creativity that agencies depend on to thrive.

Across continents, France tells a different story. The country consistently ranks among the top nations for work-life balance, with the average French employee working 35 hours per week and taking 25 days of annual leave. French labour laws actively protect employees from the expectation to be constantly available, with the "right to disconnect" legislation ensuring that after-hours emails aren't the norm. This is deeply embedded in the cultural DNA, where long lunch breaks and August vacations are considered essential.

This cultural difference becomes particularly fascinating when viewed through the lens of creative work. Talking to Social Samosa, Youri Guerassimov, Chief Creative Officer and CEO of Marcel France, notes how this balance actually fuels better creativity rather than hindering it.

He emphasises that rest is crucial for creative work, comparing the industry to understanding the difference between a marathon and a sprint and how trying to run a marathon at sprinting speed leads to inevitable burnout before reaching the finish line. At Marcel, Guerassimov has learned to ask for extra hours when deadlines demand it, but equally important, he ensures his team gets time to recharge, whether that's coming in late the next day or taking a long weekend to recover.

The connection between balance and creativity isn't coincidental. Guerassimov mentioned that "95% of what we create ends up in the trash", revealing that breakthrough ideas often emerge from a mind that's had space to wander and wonder. While this industry consistently chases better ideas, this chase can lead to burnout, according to Guerassimov.

When agencies prioritise work-life practices, they are not just being kind to employees; they are investing in the conditions that allow genuine creativity to flourish. As Indian agencies grapple with talent retention and creative stagnation, perhaps it's time to look beyond the hours logged and focus on the quality of thinking that emerges when creative minds are given room to breathe.

Guerassimov offers lessons for India's overworked agency environment on sustaining creativity without burnout and also explores how a culture of balance, openness, and belief in creativity, not budgets, fuels brave, effective advertising.

Edited Excerpts:

In your session at Goafest, you mentioned that "bravery isn’t about money, it’s about belief." Could you elaborate on how brands can cultivate this belief system internally to foster brave creativity?

Brands can cultivate this belief system internally by being open-minded. Clients and brand teams need to understand that the creative answer might not always be what they expected or how they usually see things, and that’s okay. In fact, that’s part of what makes creativity powerful: it’s meant to be surprising.

We need to accept that creativity can express itself in many different forms. Sometimes it’s a TV commercial, sometimes a print ad, a tweet, an event, or even something unexpected, like a bottle of water. That’s the beauty of creativity, it constantly reinvents itself. Every client should be open-minded and aware that creativity can come from anywhere.

In your experience, how do you measure the success of a brave campaign beyond traditional KPIs? What metrics or feedback indicate that a campaign has truly resonated on a deeper level?

We’re living in a world dominated by social networks. When people start talking about your campaign, laughing, sharing, reposting, it’s usually a clear sign of success. You don’t necessarily have to create the most awarded work in the world, but when it sparks genuine conversation and engagement, that’s powerful.

Of course, this needs to be balanced with more data-driven methods. Post-campaign testing can help us understand how people actually perceive the work. And yes, sales figures also provide valuable insight. So, it’s really about bringing together different elements, social reaction, data, and business results, to get a complete picture of a campaign’s effectiveness.

It may sound simple, but measuring the true impact of a campaign is not always easy. With a mix of objective indicators, we can get closer to understanding what truly works.

What processes or team dynamics do you recommend to translate brave ideas into effective campaigns without diluting their core message?

Translating brave ideas into effective campaigns is really at the heart of what we do in an agency. Creatives are meant to generate a wide range of ideas; that’s their job. But that’s also why we have different departments in advertising: strategists, account managers, creative directors, all working together to find the right balance.

Sometimes an idea might be very creative or entertaining, but it may not align closely enough with the brief. That’s where the team’s combined expertise comes in to shape the idea into what it should be and how it should work. This process is crucial.

The creative director plays a key role here. They must listen to all the ideas and decide which direction to pursue. Even if a concept is more creative or interesting, the creative director must have the courage to say, “I love it, but it’s not the right fit for the client.” Instead, they guide the team toward ideas that serve the brand’s goals, because ultimately, a creative director is not just the “chief of creativity,” but someone who sets the direction.

You’ve worked extensively in Paris—a city known not just for its creative flair but also for valuing quality of life. How do Parisian ad agencies manage to prioritise work-life balance without compromising on creative excellence?

Actually, they do, more and more. One of the great things about living in Paris is that it’s a beautiful city with a vibrant social scene, lots of bars, restaurants, and places to enjoy life. So people naturally seek balance, and as agency leaders, it’s our responsibility to help them find that balance. It's never easy. I would never tell someone to work all night, but I also wouldn’t say, “You don’t need to work.” It’s all about finding the right balance.

Especially in our industry, you can always push for better; a better idea, a better execution. That mindset can be great; it drives improvement. But if you're always chasing “better” every day, every week, every month, it can lead to burnout. We have to protect our teams from that while also inspiring them. We need to ignite their passion and energy, but not at the cost of their well-being.

It’s hard, but with experience, you start to understand how to strike that balance. I’m not perfect at it, but I do my best to help people enjoy both their life and their job. That said, I won’t lie, advertising is real work. It’s not a holiday; it’s tough.

My creative partner and I often say that 95% of what we create ends up in the trash. That’s just the nature of the job. Yes, we have to work hard, but not so hard that it breaks your spirit or ruins your life. Life is about balance and so is advertising. You always have to find that balance.

In India’s high-paced agency environment, long hours are often normalised. What can Indian agencies learn from the Parisian approach to balancing work and creativity?

I don't know if I can speak for the "Parisian way" of working, but I can speak for how we work at Marcel. Yes, we have to remember that we’re in a delivery-driven business. We have deadlines and clients expecting results, so at times, we do have to work long hours to deliver high-quality work on time.

But again, it’s all about balance. Sometimes I do ask my team, my creatives or others to put in extra hours to meet a deadline. But as a manager who understands how the system works and respects my people, I also make sure to give them time off when it’s needed. If someone has stayed late to finish a project, I’ll say, “Come in late tomorrow,” or “Take Monday off, enjoy a long weekend,” so they can rest and recharge.

Rest is crucial if you want to do creative work. You need to know the difference between a marathon and a sprint. If you try to run a marathon at sprinting speed, you’ll burn out quickly. You’ll be exhausted and won’t reach the finish line. The key is to find the right pace, the right intensity, to make the work and the people sustainably successful.

What do you think is the soul of advertising? 

I’d say it starts with the idea, because our business is really led by ideas.

And on another level, I’d say it’s entertainment. Entertainment in the broadest sense it’s about emotion. We can make people laugh, we can make people cry, we can make them think. That emotional reaction is incredibly important.

That’s the soul of advertising: trying to make people feel something. That’s the beauty of it.

What advice would you give to emerging brands that aspire to be brave but lack the resources of established companies?

They need, more than anyone else, to be open-minded and willing to invest in creative ideas. Not to make the creatives happy, but because those creative ideas can actually take the business to the next level. It’s through creativity that growth can happen, especially when resources are limited.