We’ve been sharing, for the past 4 weeks (time flies!), a unique experience: Havas Lofts.

Being part of a Havas office abroad, a strange feeling arises: Discovering, or re-discovering, with a fresh eye, an already familiar environment. It is funny and yet impressive to notice that we all share skills, knowledge, values, and common approaches within the Havas group, converging towards its original DNA, the “Meaningful Connection”.

But what’s a “meaningful agency”? The most accurate definition would be to be able to help clients make their brands grow successfully through creating shared values between brands and their users’ community.

Since the beginning of the program, I keep on realizing that several elements enable the development of a “Meaningful Agency”

A friendly work atmosphere:

Office feels like home. And why is that? Is it because people have breakfast at the agency? Or is it because the holiday pictures are pinned on the wall next to case studies? Or is it because we celebrate our co-workers’ birthday at the office? Maybe… In any case, apparent casualness has a real efficiency to activity and productivity

Punctuality:

When a meeting is scheduled from 10 to 11 am, it starts at 10 and ends up at 11am… It seems obvious.

Innovation:

The dynamic digital environment in which we operate is a crucial vector for the development of innovation.

For instance, I had the opportunity to try the Virtual Reality headset “Oculus Rift” during a business meeting. V.R. provides a great opportunity to create real Meaningful Connections between brands and consumers.

Making sense and enthusiasm:

I’m really surprised (positively, I mean…) by the number of times I have heard positive and encouraging sentences such as “It makes sense” or “Brilliant”…

It might be a detail, but it shows the ambient spirit and state of mind, and the will to build together. A true enthusiasm that facilitates learning and consequently efficiency.

The desire to share:

At first, I was surprised by the inclination to knowledge sharing: colleagues wanting to share their experiences, their business case studies, their ideas…It is made possible through different training sessions or weekly internal presentations (“new starter inductions”, “digital pioneering session”, etc.) Long-run implication and motivation is also when being able to share and discuss with colleagues, in dedicated and informal moments (having drinks on Thursdays for instance)

In a nutshell: The real strengths of a “meaningful agency” are its “meaningful people”