Introducing #HavasVillageMCR

Havas Village Manchester, by David Hunt

Building the Havas brand in Manchester, and the Manchester brand across the world. 

On Tuesday 2nd November, we proudly held the exclusive launch of the UK’s first Havas Village: Havas Village Manchester. Creating a powerful creative and digital hub in our northern home, #HavasVillageMCR aligns Havas Lynx and our multi-talented network partners with a shared vision for the future.

The initiative draws together the expertise of Havas Lynx, Havas People, Havas PR, Havas Media and DBi. In the heart of our amazing city, we now have five Havas agencies and more than 300 communication experts delivering a seamless experience for our customers, and theirs.

The growth and magnitude of today’s digital channels has resulted in the dilution of the traditional boundaries between communications agencies. If we are to maximise investment and help consumers build meaningful relationships with brands, we must have a unified vision when it comes to strategy, creativity and media. As part of Havas Village Manchester, we do just this, expanding our reach and becoming stronger in our mission to make a real difference to peoples’ lives.

#HavasVillageMCR is situated within the centre of Manchester’s creative and digital community,  to leverage the exceptional talent within the city. In the past four years, Havas Lynx has doubled in size and seen some impeccable talent come in through the door, including over 75 graduates in the last three years alone, bringing their digital and social passion and fresh ideas into the mix. It’s because of this talent, and the vibrancy and power of Manchester that Havas are investing in the city. They see Manchester as it is; a key international hub.

Driven by the combined power of Havas & Manchester, #HavasVillageMCR will see the delivery of meaningful brands for today & tomorrow.

#LionsHealth – A great few days in the South of France

The first ever Lions Health took place on June 13th and 14th 2014, at the famous Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France.

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No one knew quite what to expect. Who would be there? What would we learn? Who would win? And what would become of the #LionsHealth?

The speakers were mixed. But importantly, when they were good, they were great. Events such as this often have one or two highlights. At #LionsHealth there were multiple. The event was opened by the brilliant @JimStengel. He spoke passionately about creating a culture of creativity & the importance of team engagement. It was impossible to not be impacted by Jim’s ideas & results. They will certainly shape my thinking as we plan for the continuing success of HAVAS LYNX.

Equally great, if a little more unorthodox, was R. John Fidelino. When I sat down for a session labelled, “Chasing Cool in Healthcare”, I was ready to be unimpressed. I’m proud of pharma & would choose significant over cool everyday. Fidelino’s presentation convinced me otherwise. He was meaningful, authentic and immersive – he embodied all the values he felt health communications must represent. He convinced me that perhaps we can have even more significance on people’s lives, if we are just a little cooler.

Not too many people have heard or considered narrative medicine. The always brilliant Dr. Rita Charon mesmerised much of the audience on day two. Having spent much of the event discussing technology, it was very refreshing to then consider content, emotion and stories. Technology is a platform, it’s the experience that counts. As Fidelino had explained, we must be meaningful, authentic and immersive. Dr. Rita Charon talked from the heart of her patient experiences & the importance of relationships. As we look to the future and our digital world, it is clear that HCP interactions will become ever more fragmented, and as such, relationships will be critical to improving outcomes.

We joined Havas to help drive our strategic thinking & creative pedigree. We were delighted to be part of a network that claimed three lions; a bronze, silver & gold. The network has amazing talent & we love the collaboration. It fuels our growth and ambition. We were also delighted for the team at Langland. A great agency, that represented the UK with great success.

So what will become of #LionsHealth? For me, that question remains unanswered. Much worked, but a lot didn’t. Did it meet year one expectations? Yes. Does it need to evolve significantly for year two? Almost certainly. Will we be there to support that growth? Absolutely.

 

A fresh start

It’s 5 years since the launch of the PM Society Digital Awards. In that time we’ve grown from 50 to 200, from local to global, digital to full-service,  from Creative Lynx to HAVAS LYNX.

There is no doubt that the PM Society Digital Awards created an essential platform for our success. They recognised & celebrated our creativity, passion & innovation. They challenged us to improve, and with 23 wins in 5 years, they ensured our exceptional standards were maintained.

However, for HAVAS LYNX it’s now time for a change, a fresh challenge, a new perspective. Instead of the PM Society Digital Awards, this year we’ve decided to enter the Cannes Lions Health awards.

It’s a global competition, derived from the most prestigious awards in advertising. Yet it also comes with unknowns; How will we do? Will we leave empty-handed? How expensive are the G&Ts in the South of France? More importantly, it comes with certainties; we’ve worked harder, pushed our ideas further, and we’ve challenged ourselves to be better.

HAVAS LYNX has a tremendous energy, and when under pressure we excel. We want to be pushed. And we want to be the best. This year we may not be successful, but we’ll be back again next year, better for the experience & even more determined. *fingers crossed*.

The PM Society Digital Awards are still a tremendous event, and I’ll certainly be supporting their team this year and in the future.growth

The death of traditional consumerism: what does it mean for pharma?

HAVAS Worldwide’s latest paper, The New Consumer & The Sharing Economy, outlines a growing sentiment against over consumption. Seven in ten of us believe it to be putting our society and the planet at risk, and the majority feel that current models of consumerism are not sustainable. More than this, we feel weighed down by the sheer amount of ‘stuff’ we own.

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Put simply, we’re tired of consumerism and bored of adverts that try to manipulate us by pushing products at us like they’re the answer to life’s problems. We want to be in control, we want to be able to make informed decisions about how we spend our time and money and we don’t want others telling us what to do.

This goes for healthcare as much as consumer markets. Patients no longer expect to merely be prescribed a pill that they unwittingly swallow down once a day and hope for the best. Facilitated by an abundance of information technologies, they are knowledgeable about treatments and want to be actively involved in managing their own health care.

The wealth of monitoring apps across treatment areas (AsthmaCheck, MoodPanda and Diabetes In Check are but a few) is a fair indicator of a general desire for information and authority regarding personal treatment regimens. For financially hamstrung public health providers such as the NHS, this is a welcome trend. Empowering patients with greater control of their treatment reduces the burden of care placed on public providers, and has the potential to garner much better results by actively engaging patients.

So where does pharma fit into all this? The patent model and subsequent relationship with healthcare providers has always followed traditional models of consumerism; ‘we are a drug company and we’ve produced this drug which you can buy from us’. So how can we who work in pharma support and facilitate patients’ desires for greater inclusion and authority in their care and still turn a profit?

Firstly, we need to reshape our relationship with the people we serve. Pharmaceutical companies can no longer act as vendors and must become partners to professionals and patients alike. In doing so, we need to provide solutions, not pills, and increasingly this will mean delivering holistic services and systems of care. ‘Beyond the pill’ solutions are an arena in which there is massive potential for pharmaceutical companies to add real value.  At HAVAS LYNX we’ve worked on a series of patient care programmes that have been shown to half the number of days patients spend in hospital.

When pharma partners its expertise with other parties, it opens up a world of new revenue streams. Start-up accelerator organisations such as Healthbox are stimulating the sort of innovation and collaboration that pharma should be looking to more and more. Even amidst the context of Pfizer’s efforts to secure the acquisition of AstraZeneca, pharma companies need to look beyond traditional development pipelines when seeking to expand their offering.

We need to innovate past the sector mainstream and recognise outsider trends, much in the same way that Facebook is making moves to expand beyond social by purchasing of ProtoGeo. There are so many exciting and disruptive technologies being developed that have the potential to transform the lives of patients. Far more than offering supplementary revenue, these areas that currently lie on the fringes of the market are likely to be the mainstay of pharmaceuticals in the future.

 

It sounds great, but how do you really know?

Merger; From the Inside, by David Hunt

Part II, Finer Details

You’ve found a partner, someone with shared values and ambitions, but what next? A huge number of deals never materialise, I’d speculate through anxiety, uncertainty, egos and inevitable complications. And that’s appropriate. Global groups want the best, and that can only be achieved with blood, sweat & tears. To be the best, you have to care.

Your agency is comfortable, reassuring, familiar. It’s successful, enjoyable, it is safe. “We can wait another twelve months!”, “We’re doing great on our own!!”, “It’s not the right time!!!” Anxiety and second thoughts are inevitable when  approaching a merger or acquisition. But as previously discussed on this blog, I believe to survive & succeed evolution is essential. We overcame our apprehension through complete internal alignment, one of our greatest strengths, and honest communication with Havas Health, one of theirs.

You fear seismic change when going through a merger. You’ve heard the scare stories, you know the risks. A creative imagination can fuel wild uncertainties. Fear of the unknown can be entirely debilitating. But your a great agency; decorated, profitable & happy. You know your people, you know your business, you know what works. You also also know your weaknesses. By identifying a true partner, their ambition will be improvement where & when it counts, not driving change for changes sake. It’s about evolving together, becoming stronger & better.

You have an ambition, and to realise it you’ve recognised the need for a partner. You respect the need for help. I think it is essential to maintain that respect throughout the process. If you are perfect, do not undertake a merger. If you recognise deficiencies at the outset remember them through the process, I’m sure being humble helps both parties.

I’ve worked for one agency. I intend to work for one network. I love my job & I have no desire to jump ship. As a Senior team I can only assume we are fairly unique in being entirely genuine regarding our long-term commitment. However, it is entirely right & appropriate to construct robust legal agreements, I understand a hand-shake is not enough. To complete a deal requires agreeing the finer details and addressing these complications – I’m sure it was easier having addressed everyone’s anxiety & uncertainty, and with egos left at the door. 

Part I, Initial engagement

Part III, Business as usual

Part IV, A year in & the lessons I learnt