“I’m not feeling fresh but I’m feeling damn happy,” says Gaëtan du Peloux, who alongside Marcel co-CEO and CCO Youri Guerassimov is chatting to me after a night spent celebrating their first Grand Prix of the week at Cannes Lions, in Entertainment Lions for Sport. The ad for Orange, titled Women’s Football, uses clever VFX trickery to highlight that the women’s game is as skillful and exciting as the men’s, and would later win another Grand Prix, in the coveted Film category.

Despite their late night, the duo are full of passion and enthusiasm, perhaps a by-product of winning at the festival, and also recently receiving a Black Pencil for the Orange spot at D&AD. Awards such as these have many naysayers but remain significant for agencies and clients as a benchmark of success. “Marcel is creative at its heart – it’s very important to have the recognition of the industry,” says Guerassimov.

Marcel was first launched in Paris in 2005 as a Publicis-backed vehicle for star creatives Fred & Farid. They departed after just 17 months, but the agency survived, and has thrived over the decades, most recently producing striking work for Back Market, Lidl, and, of course, Orange. Guerassimov and du Peloux joined in 2009 as junior creatives and have remained there ever since, slowly rising up the ranks.