Luxury marketing has always demanded something beyond the functional. It requires a precise understanding of desire, of heritage, of the cultural moment, and of how a brand earns its place in the lives of people who expect nothing less than the best. Few people are better placed to articulate that than Charles Georges-Picot, who has led Publicis Luxe since 2011 and the broader Global Luxury Practice at Publicis Groupe since 2017, building one of the most respected creative operations in the industry along the way.

Under his leadership, the agency has produced work that genuinely moves between the worlds of art, cinema and commerce, from a Lancôme fragrance film directed by Oscar-winner Damien Chazelle and starring Julia Roberts, to a landmark collaboration between Aya Nakamura and Lancôme that won the first-ever Gold Lion in the Cannes Lions Luxury and Lifestyle category in 2024. With offices in Paris, New York, Shanghai and Geneva functioning as a single integrated unit, and clients spanning Richemont, L’Oréal and Accor, Georges-Picot has built something that operates at genuine global scale without losing the craft-level attention that luxury demands. Here, he tells The Executive Magazine what it takes to build work that lasts.

You have led Publicis Luxe since 2011 and taken on the broader Global Luxury Practice at Publicis Groupe since 2017, building a team of around 400 people across Paris, New York, Shanghai and Geneva. What does that kind of scale allow you to do for luxury clients that a smaller, more specialist agency simply cannot?

“What scale gives you, if you use it properly, is not heaviness. It’s range.

“A smaller agency can be excellent at one thing. What we can do is bring together strategy, creativity, production, social and customer experience, powered by data and technology, into one system, with the same level of ambition throughout. In luxury, the challenge is rarely isolated. It’s never just about creating a campaign; it’s a communication platform, a content model, a new approach to production with AI, a social activation, an experience etc… often all at once.

“Most importantly, scale also gives us flexibility: different creative profiles, different areas of expertise, different local perspectives. We shape the answer around the brand, rather than forcing the brand into a model. We have a palette of some of the most talented creatives, each with their own way of approaching a brief. My role is to create the right alchemy between the brand and the most relevant talent.

“There’s also the international dimension. You need local nuance to resonate, but also scale. That combination is a real competitive advantage.”

Luxury marketing sits at a fascinating intersection of heritage and relevance. How do you ensure that campaigns protect the long-term equity of a brand while still feeling genuinely contemporary to a global audience?

“You have to be very clear about what is essential in the brand and what can evolve.

“A luxury house can evolve its tone, its rhythm, its casting, its formats. But it cannot lose its core. If you compromise the codes, the purpose, the level of craft, you may look current for a moment but you weaken the brand. So it’s about discipline. Not chasing every signal, but knowing what matters and what is just noise.

“When the balance is right, the brand feels naturally relevant, never stuck, and never trying too hard.”

The campaign for La Vie est Belle L’Elixir, directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Julia Roberts, is the kind of production that blurs the line between advertising and cinema. How do you approach a brief at that level, and what does it take to bring that calibre of creative talent into a commercial project?

“At that level, the ambition has to be clear from the start.

“A director like Damien Chazelle doesn’t come in to make another ad. He comes in if there is an idea, a tone that matches his work, and a real cinematic ambition.

“We approached it as a film, not a traditional fragrance ad. Shot on 35mm, scored by Justin Hurwitz, carried by a very precise performance from Julia Roberts. At the core, a simple idea: a woman defining her own happiness on her own terms.

“From there, execution becomes very rigorous. A sharp brief, a script that can hold that level of talent, and a production model that protects the idea all the way through.

“And it didn’t stop at the film. It was built as a full creative platform across social, digital, e-commerce and retail.”

Winning the first-ever Gold Lion in the Cannes Lions Luxury & Lifestyle category, for the Aya Nakamura: Haut Niveau x Lancôme campaign, was a landmark moment for the industry. What did that campaign get right, and what does it tell us about where luxury marketing is heading?

“What that campaign got right was simple: it didn’t use Aya Nakamura as an endorsement. It gave her authorship.

“We built something closer to her world, her discipline, her voice, rather than a polished campaign format. That’s what made it culturally relevant.

“For Lancôme, choosing someone like Aya is a strong statement. It’s the biggest beauty brand in the world, reaching more women than any other. Choosing Aya is purposeful, just like choosing Isabella Rossellini at 63 years old.

“For me, it says something very clear: the strongest luxury brands don’t borrow relevance; they create work with real cultural weight, and true respect for the talent they collaborate with.”

You served as Jury President for the Cannes Lions Luxury & Lifestyle category in 2024. Sitting on that side of the process, what separates the work that genuinely moves the needle from the work that simply looks impressive?

“You see very quickly that beautiful work is not always strong work.

“In luxury, many campaigns are well crafted but that’s not enough. The question is whether there is an idea, whether it says something about the brand, and whether it creates impact in culture or in business, ideally both.

“The work that stands out is not just polished. It’s right: right for the moment, right for the brand, right for the audience, right in its execution.

“That’s the difference between work that looks impressive and work that actually matters.”

Publicis Luxe operates across fashion, beauty, watches, hospitality and culture. Does a single strategic philosophy connect all of that, or does luxury marketing require a fundamentally different approach depending on the category?

“There is a common backbone, but no standard formula.

“Across all these categories, the question is the same: how do you create value beyond function through emotion, distinction, consistency and experience?

“What changes is the tempo and the codes. Beauty moves fast. Hospitality is lived. Watches require depth and connoisseurship. Fashion is much more exposed to cultural timing.

“The fundamentals stay the same. The application has to be specific.”

Through Cultish, the agency actively connects luxury brands with the art world, including an annual exhibition at the Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles. How important is cultural credibility to the future of luxury marketing, and how do you build it authentically rather than superficially?

“It matters more than ever.

“Luxury brands are now judged not just on their products, but on the cultural value they create around them.

“That credibility cannot be superficial. It’s not about placing a logo next to culture. It’s about showing up with a point of view, a real contribution, and the right level of execution.

“We created Cultish precisely for that: to help brands engage with culture in a way that is more serious, more credible and more meaningful.”

The luxury consumer has changed considerably over the past decade, with younger, digitally native audiences now driving significant purchasing power. How has that shifted the way you think about storytelling, and where do craft and digital production meet in practice?

“What has changed most is the rhythm.

“These audiences move fast, consume constantly, and understand platform codes very well. So storytelling can no longer be one big idea pushed everywhere, it has to work as a system.

“Across film, social, influence, retail, CRM and experience. Digital production is no longer a layer at the end. It’s central to how the brand lives day to day.

“All of this still requires a very high level of craft. It has to remain just as high while producing more, more often, across many more touchpoints. That’s one of the major shifts in luxury communication. We’ve built the tools and systems, leveraging technology and AI, to deliver that. That’s another benefit of our scale.

“Often luxury clients are struggling to break their own internal silos (content, social, performance, PR, media, events…) to deliver this new playbook. We are often the enabler to make it happen.”

Running a truly integrated global operation across Paris, New York, Shanghai and Geneva is no small undertaking, and the way Publicis Luxe functions as a single unified office rather than a collection of regional outposts sets it apart. How has that model strengthened the work you produce for international clients, and what does genuine global integration look like in practice?

“A lot of networks talk about integration. In practice, it often remains fragmented.

“For us, integration means the client experiences one system: one level of thinking, one level of creativity, one level of execution with the right people brought in depending on the problem. This has been a core belief of Publicis Groupe for many years.

“It strengthens the work because we can build teams across markets very fluidly: local intelligence where it matters, global expertise where it adds value, and a consistent standard throughout.

“In luxury, that balance is critical. Brands need global consistency and local relevance. Lose either one, and the work becomes weaker.”

Luxury marketing operates according to a distinct set of principles, from the primacy of emotional storytelling to the relationship between heritage and innovation. Which of those principles do you believe translate most powerfully into other sectors, and how can businesses outside the luxury world apply them?

“Probably the most transferable idea is that value is never just functional.

“People respond to meaning, emotion and experience. Luxury has understood that for a long time. Other sectors are now discovering it.

“Then there’s consistency. In luxury, every detail contributes to the brand. Nothing is neutral. That discipline applies everywhere.

“Finally, the long term. Luxury builds desire over time, not just through short-term activation. That’s a powerful lesson beyond luxury. We want our clients to still be relevant in 100 years while resonating deeply with consumers today.”