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Video agency, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Video agency in Lyon: UGC, TikTok and creative ads shot on location

In Lyon, with 520,774 residents in 2022 according to Insee, a single campaign can target a student on the Rhône embankments, a manager from Part-Dieu and a tourist who has climbed up to Fourvière.

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● Video agency in Lyon

Shooting, editing and publishing for brands in Lyon

In Lyon, with 520,774 residents in 2022 according to Insee, a single campaign can target a student on the Rhône embankments, a manager from Part-Dieu and a tourist who has climbed up to Fourvière. We travel from Paris to film these brands on location: Meta and TikTok creative ads, UGC videos, Reels and organic content. The team arrives by TGV, films a counter at Halles Paul Bocuse, an office floor or a courtyard in Vieux-Lyon, then delivers edits adapted into several hooks to test in advertising.

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520,774 Lyonnais across nine arrondissements

Insee counts 520,774 residents in Lyon in 2022, spread over nine arrondissements. A Meta ad targeted at the Croix-Rousse plateau, in the 4th, does not speak to the same households as an ad running around Confluence, in the 2nd. The 2025 edition of the Opale economic portrait, taken up by the Métropole, counts 80,470 establishments in the city, including 17,960 in retail and services and 9,490 craft businesses, with 288,400 private-sector salaried jobs. A bakery in Croix-Rousse shares its audience with dozens of neighbouring shops: showing the shopfront, the street and the person behind the counter helps you stand out. As for younger audiences, 15 to 29-year-olds make up 29.2% of the city's residents in 2022 (Insee), and the Lyon metropolitan area has 191,000 students. We reach them with creators of the same age, filmed on place Bellecour or along the Rhône banks rather than against a white backdrop.

From Part-Dieu to the Gerland Biodistrict

Part-Dieu is first and foremost a place of work: Insee counted 43,900 employees there at the end of 2019 for 25,700 residents at the start of 2020, or 1.7 employees per resident against 0.6 for Lyon as a whole. Public administration employs 19.5% of employees there, scientific and technical activities 14%. To the south, the Lyon-Gerland Biodistrict brings together, according to the Métropole, groups such as Sanofi Pasteur, Merial and Genzyme, SMEs such as Aguettant, Episkin and Genoway, and the Lyonbiopôle competitiveness cluster. The Métropole also cites CIRC, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim and Framatome among the companies based in Lyon. Here, the useful videos are specific: a portrait of a laboratory technician for recruitment, a process explained in forty seconds for LinkedIn, a CEO interview in a tower above the railway tracks. The Lyon metropolitan area recorded more than 30,500 business start-ups in 2024: for a young company, a first series of creative ads is shot on its own premises, with the founders in front of the camera.

Halles Paul Bocuse, Part-Dieu and 9.56 million overnight stays

At Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, several counters are serving from early morning and some present themselves as bouchons lyonnais. That is the slot to aim for with a restaurant Reel: the stall before the crowds, the chef's gesture, the plate set down on the zinc counter. The Part-Dieu shopping centre, opened in 1975, houses 286 establishments and 5,000 employees according to Insee, and clothing stores account for 31% of its units. We shoot try-on UGC there, but also recruitment TikToks, since half of these employees are under 30. On the tourism side, ONLYLYON Tourisme et Congrès counted 9.56 million commercial overnight stays in the metropolitan area in 2024, of which 5.37 million in hotels. A hotel in the Presqu'île or a guided tour of Vieux-Lyon does well to run on Meta, ahead of the stay, a video filmed from the guest's point of view, from arrival at the station to the room.

Fourvière, traboules and the Fête des Lumières

The UNESCO-listed site, inscribed on 5 December 1998, covers 427 hectares, or 10% of the city, according to the tourist office: Vieux-Lyon, the Fourvière hill, the slopes of Croix-Rousse and a large part of the Presqu'île. These settings are recognisable in a second on TikTok: the Fourvière esplanade, the Roman theatre, the climb of the Grande Côte, place du Change. The panorama is filmed from the ground, as we do not use drones. Traboules often run through residential buildings, hence a small crew and no heavy lighting. The calendar matters as much as the location: in 2024, ONLYLYON recorded 2 million visitors at the Fête des Lumières, 285,000 at the Contemporary Art Biennale, 180,000 at the Lumière festival and 165,000 at the Nuits de Fourvière, held in summer in the ancient theatre. For a December campaign, we shoot the product shots in November and keep the festival evenings for atmosphere.

A day's shoot, from Part-Dieu station to the Saône quays

The team leaves our offices at 40 rue du Colisée in Paris and arrives by TGV at Part-Dieu or Perrache, the two Lyon stations served by high-speed trains. The equipment fits in suitcases, and the metro, tram and funicular are enough to get up to Fourvière without a van. Before the day itself, we approve the script remotely, book the locations and, when the brief calls for UGC, organise a casting of creators who live in Lyon. A typical day starts when the Halles open for the stall shots, continues at lunch in a bouchon, spends the afternoon in Part-Dieu offices for interviews, then ends in the late afternoon on the Saône quays, facing Vieux-Lyon. The editing is done in Paris. Esekai, founded by Tony Lo, has worked with more than 350 brands using this method: one shoot, several formats, several hooks to test in advertising.

Sources of the figures quoted Insee, Évolution et structure de la population en 2022, commune de Lyon (69123), published 26/06/2025 (Population change and structure in 2022, commune of Lyon) Métropole de Lyon, L'offre de services à Lyon (Opale figures, economic portrait 2025 edition, Biodistrict, established companies, stations) Métropole de Lyon, Développement économique (191,000 students and 30,500 business start-ups in 2024, metropolitan scale) Insee Analyses Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes n° 210, Quartier de la Part-Dieu à Lyon (May 2026) ONLYLYON Tourisme et Congrès, Chiffres clés 2024 et profil des touristes (Key figures 2024 and tourist profile) ONLYLYON Tourisme, Lyon, UNESCO World Heritage site
+40% click-through rate (CTR)
-30% cost per acquisition (CPA)
x2 à x3 return on ad spend (ROAS)
Why?

Why creative ads deliver better results

An ad that looks like an ad gets skipped in a second. A creative ad works on the hook, the message and the format so it is watched to the end, then tested and adapted for as long as it converts.

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Content built to capture, engage and convert

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How?

Our approach to creative ads

Every video is designed to be tested, measured and then improved.

01

Strategy & audience analysis

Market, goals and audiences: we choose the angles to test.

02

Visual creation & ad copywriting

Scripts, shooting and editing to each platform's codes.

03

Testing, iteration & continuous optimisation

We compare the variants and roll out the winners.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about our video production studio

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Yes, provided you plan early. ONLYLYON counted 2 million visitors at the 2024 edition: hotels fill up quickly and every journey takes longer in the crowds. We book the crew's accommodation weeks ahead, shoot the product scenes beforehand, then capture the installations in the evening with a light crew able to work among the spectators.

Yes, but not as you would on a street. Many traboules run through the courtyards of residential buildings. We scout the passage beforehand, ask for the agreement of the co-ownerships or the relevant authorities, shoot outside peak hours and with a minimum of equipment. For a UGC video, a single creator with a stabilised smartphone is often enough to capture the atmosphere of the staircases and Renaissance galleries.

When the brand wants a recognisable accent, locations or customer base, we organise a casting of creators who live in Lyon, students or working professionals depending on the target. With 191,000 students in the Lyon metropolitan area, according to the Métropole, the pool of young profiles is large, which matters for a UGC or TikTok agency shooting in Lyon for under-25s. If the brief allows, we also come with Parisian creators.

A creative ads agency designs video ads built for social platforms: tested hooks, native 9:16 formats and data-driven iterations. At Esekai, every creative ad is produced in-house in Paris (script, shoot, edit), then adapted for TikTok Ads and Meta Ads to lower your acquisition costs.

Creative ads are structured advertising for paid media (TikTok Ads, Meta Ads). UGC videos mirror authentic creator content to build trust and convert. Organic content builds your social presence over the long term. The three are complementary.

We work on a six-month minimum. A video content strategy performs best over time: the first six months let us test, refine and optimise for durable, compounding results.

In our clients' words
01 / 02
Verified review, Trustpilot
A team that understands the business stakes, not just video. The setup brought us more visibility and more sign-ups.
Valentin Blanco CEO, Virage Prépa
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Client, Automotive
Content that meets our brand standards, delivered at the pace of the platforms. The France launch exceeded our targets.
Nicholas K. Sales Director, BYD
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