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Havas Lynx pushes the boundaries of creative healthcare with new recruits

Havas Lynx, the leading global healthcare communications agency, and communiqué communications consultancy of the year has further bolstered its ranks with a string of high-profile recruits including three new award-winning creative directors. This expansion of the creative team follows on from the appointment of Tom Richards as Chief Creative Officer in April 2015.

Since Richards’ appointment, the Havas Lynx group has significantly invested in its creative talent, building on their un-paralleled expertise of science, strategy and technology. In the past nine months, it’s taken on 24 new creatives, bringing Havas Lynx’s creative team to over 70 people; making it one of the biggest creative healthcare departments in Europe.

The agency has also refurbished its workplace with an enviable new creative space that has already been used by global industry association, D&AD, for its New Blood Mixer.

As part of the creative growth, Havas Lynx has appointed three seasoned Creative Directors from non-healthcare backgrounds to oversee the delivery of high-calibre campaigns and ensure Havas Lynx’s creative output sets a new standard for the industry. It welcomes Paul Kinsella, Lou Shipley and Phil Howells.

Paul Kinsella brings over 13 years’ experience from working in agencies such as Euro RSCG WNEK Gosper, Cheetham Bell JWT and BJL. He is known for ideas, insights and creativity and is excited about the opportunity to work in healthcare. In his last three years alone, his innovative designs and concepts have won over 30 awards from ceremonies including Campaign, Kinsale Sharks, Roses, DADi and Fresh. Most recently, he gained recognition for his work on Whyte & Mackay’s whisky which featured in Campaign’s top ads of 2015.

Lou Shipley brings over 19 years’ conceptual copywriting experience from several integrated advertising agencies including the likes of McCanns, Tequila TBWA, Rapier and Ogilvy. Lou’s varied portfolio includes powerful and compelling campaigns for Cancer Research UK, Save the Children and Alzheimer’s Society. Lou is known for her creative versatility having worked across TV, print, direct marketing, digital and social platforms.

The agency also welcomes Phil Howells, a multi-award winning creative director with over 30 years’ advertising experience. Phil’s portfolio includes work on a variety of campaigns for household names including Sure, Dirt Devil, Shop Direct and John Lewis, alongside working as part of the team that launched Peperami’s famous “It’s a bit of an animal”. His work has received an impressive string of industry awards such as: D&AD, Campaign Poster, Midsummer, London Interactive, Chip Shop, Montreux, The Roses and The Northern Marketing Awards.

Phil commented on his new role at Havas Lynx:
‘I’ve already been lucky enough to work with Havas Lynx on a freelance basis. I like their hunger, passion and ambition and I’m particularly impressed with the way they treat their people. Being part of Tom’s vision to raise the creative bar, not only within Havas Lynx but across the sector, has reignited my passion to do great work and also to inspire it.’

Havas Lynx’s Chief Creative Officer, Tom Richards explained:
“Healthcare may not be known as a creative industry, but we’re determined to change that. It’s great to see so many high profile and brilliant creatives recognise this and join our mission. Our new appointments are evidence of a new and radical direction for healthcare. I’m excited to produce some life changing campaigns that will be born from some of the best scientific, strategic and creative minds in the business.”

 

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PMGroup Communiqué Communications Consultancy of the Year

Agency of the Year, by David Hunt

The judges said, “Havas Lynx are not just preparing for the future, they are creating it.”

I agree, but not in isolation. Alongside our team, it takes great clients too. We’re incredibly blessed to work alongside some brilliant industry leaders, from all across the globe. Some have been with us since the beginning and the advent of the tablet-pc & closed-loop marketing. Others are new to the industry, but they share our vision & passion for pharma to make a meaningful & sustained impact on society. New, old, familiar, returning, former; we’re grateful to all of our clients and the role they’ve played in making us great.

We’re also very grateful to Havas Health and in particular Donna Murphy & Ed Stapor. A Global CMO of Top 10 Fortune 500 Company commented, “Your industry spends a fortune buying big digital companies, makes them worse, loses the talent, leaves them in a silo and fails to integrate them and deliver their expertise to us.” This could not be further from the reality of our transition from Creative Lynx to Havas Lynx. We’re faster, stronger, better, and significantly so. We’ve matured from a local digital shop to a global communications agency. Havas have been a catalyst for our development, ensuring that we can now boast scientific, strategic and creative excellence, alongside our unparalleled digital expertise.

From a young age, I came to understand the importance of a great team. Expertise, passion, diversity and a collective commitment are the cornerstones of our success. We mix recognised industry leaders with remarkable graduates, decorated creatives with proven engineers, and scientists with strategists. 95% of our staff are proud or very proud of the work they produce, and I am equally proud of them.

The final ingredient is the Havas Lynx Senior Team; myself, Neil Martin, Steve Nicholas, David Whittingham, and Tom Richards. With the exception of Tom, who is a recent addition, we have been together for a decade, enjoying almost all of it. It’s a great team, and one that I’m incredibly honoured to be part of. It’s reassuring to know that when times are hard, you are surrounded by experts & leaders that stand shoulder-to-shoulder. And equally, when times are good that you can celebrate with friends.Communique

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Millennials, who’d have them?

Building an agency, by David Hunt

Born in 1980, I’m a borderline Millennial depending on your preferred interpretation. Regardless, I can still feel like an old man when it comes to Millennial engagement in the work place, which is why I’m so proud of our retention rate. Many agencies struggle to retain bright, ambitious talent, whereas at Havas Lynx, we prosper.

We believe Millennials want to make a difference and at Havas Lynx, we are committed to doing just that. We focus on improving patient outcomes; to drive commercial success for our partners. But our efforts don’t end with the client budget, we go much further. In 2015, we’ve already funded the education of 42 children in Africa.

We believe that Millennials want to exist within a vibrant community. #LYNXLife was launched to preserve and enhance our culture. It includes a tea lady, breakfast club and Summer Fun day offline, and Facebook and Instagram, online. To get involved, join us by following #LYNXLife.

Each year we conduct an internal survey.  Of 200+ participants 30 %  said professional development was their key priority. Many people challenge our investment in #LXAcademy accusing it of being excessive but I’d challenge us to spend more.

We try our best to shun excessive structure and hierarchy. Yes, the ultimate decision resides with the senior team but you won’t find us hiding in an office. To my knowledge, no-one at either Havas Lynx, or formerly Creative Lynx, has had their own office, and it’s my intention to maintain this record.

It’s up for debate how many of these principles are specific to Millennials and to me, it simply sounds like good business. But then again, maybe that’s just the Millennial in me.

Campervan

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Steve Jobs, a catalyst for innovation or a poster boy for the digital revolution?

User experience; Pursuit of perfection, by David Hunt

Where does the late Steve Jobs sit amongst the greatest minds of our time? Is he simply the poster-boy for the global culture of innovation? Or is he the catalyst that inspired a generation to think differently?

iPod
iPod, where it all began?

He didn’t create the Internet, he didn’t create the MP3, he did not invent the mobile phone, but does that lessen his impact or contribution to the digital revolution? Through his pathological commitment to a customer-centric approach, he took alien and complex concepts and brought them into the main-stream. He was the perfect foil to a software engineer, able to take “black magic” and make it simply magic.

His impact is significant; he challenged conventions and improved our lives. He didn’t look at what the competition did, he looked at what they didn’t do. He saw things differently. He knew what people wanted and he fulfilled the need, in terms of product, positioning and marketing.

His products were the best. He had the vision to challenge conventions and he had the obsession to shape every detail. His solutions weren’t defined by rules or existing boundaries, but by form, and experience. Whilst the design & integration of his products were flawless, product semantics were at the heart of their success, providing complete alignment with a user’s instincts. We didn’t have to learn how to work his products, they learnt how we work. Consumers may choose an Apple product because it is pioneering, it is desirable, it is premium – I choose Apple because of the experience. It is an extension of me. Every detail considered around my needs; from the physical interaction to the  seamless interface, driven by a deep rooted desire to exceed my expectations.

He defined product classes. Apple did not produce the first smart phone, or first MP3 player, but they did bring them to the public conscious. His product positioning was flawless, (unlike some). He could bridge the gap between technology and need. He would take an idea and make it relevant. There are those that can create technology, and there are those that know how to use it, Steve Jobs was the latter and his impact all the greater.

Was Steve Jobs a marketing expert? In 1983 he didn’t think so. In hiring John Sculley from Pepsi to become CEO of Apple, he highlighted the value he placed on marketing & communications, but an unusual lack of personal belief. Those in his presence, and the wider world would disagree, citing his “reality distortion field” – an ability to make the impossible, seam possible. Despite the economic challenges of the past decade, Apple has continued to succeed. Many wrongly believe that in austere times a cut in sales & marketing drives profit, Apple have baulked this trend and proven the wisdom of communications to maintain long-term success.

It is impossible to say where the world would be without Steve Jobs and Apple. However, I would speculate that whilst the technology would exist, the benefit it brings would only be enjoyed by engineers & technicians, the wider society would be oblivious to the benefits of “black magic”.

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently…they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.”
– Steve Jobs

References:

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

– Jobs [Movie, 2013]

– Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson

– Keep It Simple: The Early Design Years of Apple by Hartmut Esslinger

Sent from my iPad