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A Technology Start-up, Born from an Agency

Software product development in healthcare, by David Hunt

In April 2012, Instagram had an estimated 27 million users with only 13 employees. At the back end of 2012, Pinterest had approximately 100 staff to 40 million users. Whilst social media played a significant part in the growth of these businesses, at the heart of their success was a need, which inspired an idea, that in-turn became a solution.

I’ve collaborated alongside some amazing creatives. People with ideas and concepts, people who are not limited by technology conceptually, but in the delivery.  Likewise, I am fortunate enough to have worked with some exceptional software engineers. People with talent and expertise, people who master technologies to fulfil their want. Both have the common ambition, to make a difference.

Having an idea and a solution is not always enough. First you must identify a need. A genuine, real need that represents an opportunity to make an impact. Communication agencies have the potential to make this leap. They can harness creative & technical expertise, and have the insight to identify a need. As demonstrated by the likes of Pinterest & Instagram, impacting the many can be done by the few. As an agency, I believe it comes down to courage & conviction.

Earlier this year we launched, HAVAS HEALTH SOFTWARE. We understand healthcare and we know the challenges. We pride ourselves on meaningful innovation, and have a proven track record of ideas that work. We have a brilliant team of engineers led by Andy Stopford, Technical Director. It is a bold move, it has required significant investment, but we believe the timing is right. Over the last decade we have built a number of products, and we have the appetite & ambition to take local success stories and make them global.

Why now? And what will success look like? Our clients are bored with technology that is not designed around the unique needs of healthcare, like old hand-me downs they don’t quite fit. Equally they are frustrated with great ideas that simply fail to deliver on the promise, wasting time, effort and money. With 15 years experience in software engineering & 50+ full-time developers, our foundations are solid. Backed-up by a vibrant local digital community and with robust process & systems, we have the infrastructure to deliver. Our products fulfil the ideas of the creatives & sectors specialists, provide a robust & long-term solution, and most importantly meet the needs of our clients.

40 million users are unlikely, however a portfolio of robust products supporting key clients is already becoming a reality. With customer engagement being led by Jon Vernon, we are seeing real traction & success. But our ambitions are greater than that. We want to create an innovation pipeline, with significant and ongoing investment in new products & new features. They won’t all be a success, but as a partner to our clients and with courage & conviction, we are well placed to identify needs, develop an idea and provide a solution. 

One of our greatest achievements has been blending the maverick of our creative teams with the science of our engineers. Now with the benefit of experience, a proven portfolio of products and the ambition to meet the bespoke needs of our clients, we introduce HAVAS HEALTH SOFTWARE.

Further information:

Data sources: Business Insider, Facebook, Forbes, LinkedIn, Macroaxis, Reuters, Statista, Tumblr, Twitter, The Wall Street Journal, Wikipedia

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Sustained Success, The Mark of a Great Team?

Awards; Behind the scenes of 23 wins in 5 years, by David Hunt

It was September 2009 and we were travelling to the inaugural PM Digital Awards. As is customary, we were debating the merits of our finalists, I’m our toughest critic and had predicted 1 or maybe 2 – we won 6, including both best in show!! Travelling home today, with 23 wins in 5 years I could not be more proud of the whole team & more grateful to our client partners.

I’ve grown up playing football and people talk about the difference between a great year and a great team. To win a title is a great year, to win the title year-after-year is the mark of a great team. In football this sustained success often includes the need to re-invent & evolve the team. As an agency we have done the same. We invest heavily in research & development, we embrace new technologies, and we recruit the brightest digital talent. We don’t stand still, and as a result neither do our clients.

How have we maintained our position as leading innovators in healthcare communications? We have great clients, who share our ambition to innovate. We have great expertise, within a culture of innovation. We have a great philosophy, focused on improving health outcomes.

Our clients don’t have to be digital experts, they do have to be courageous. Based on robust insight, a solid understanding of the regulations and digital technologies, we will make recommendations. But we can only be successful through a strong partnership with our clients. We are at our best, our strongest and our most innovative when working as a team.

We have almost 200 people in Europe, over 250 including LYNX NY, all focused on healthcare. Can you have scale & innovation? Yes, we are talking thousands & not hundreds when this could become an issue. Can you be small & innovative today? Not sure, the number of technologies & platforms is increasing at an unbelievable rate. As an individual you simply cannot be a master of them all, as a result, how can a small agency develop a campaign defined by the brief rather than by their in-house expertise, if it is limited in it’s very nature?

I often talk about a vibrant Manchester digital community, and it’s importance to our success. It also comes with challenges. The most significant of which is talent recruitment. On the surface we are competing with agencies offering websites for Nike, Audi & Virgin, and pharma is just not that cool. However, pharma makes a difference. We work on amazing treatments from HIV to Oncology & Diabetes that transform lives. As an agency, we are united by a common philosophy – Helpful Change. Inspiring us to be better & attract the talent necessary to fulfil that vision.

On the eve of the inaugural PM Digital Awards in 2009, if we would have debated the number of wins over the first 5 years… it certainly would not have been 23, and a period of such sustained success. And for that I am extremely grateful to both our bold clients and exceptional team.

You can watch a short video montage of the HAVAS LYNX 2013 PM Digital Media award finalist entries here: http://www.havaslynx.com/work/video-archive/