Don’t be Customer first, be HR first
Or, be Culture first… but HR sounded better in the title.
Let me take you back just 3 seconds; I carefully follow all the latest news on techcrunch, recode, the next web etc., and follow enough smart people on tech to have a good, and pretentious, knowledge on digital and agencies.
So my goal in coming here was to understand how creativity, technology, AI, data, and all these trendy topics will shape the agency of the future. Of course these things are important (and already integrated in the agency thanks to the village concept).
But in my mind, the answer to what shapes the company the most is not how awesomely the agency builds data management platforms connecting to the client CRM and allowing a 360 view of the customer blah blah blah. Neither is it the result of all the amazing creativity and content strategies built for clients.
What shapes the future of the agency is not technology; it’s culture and vision.
What I have observed and learnt over these last few weeks is that culture and vision are the magnets that attract talent, and manage to keep it the longest.
Here at Havas Chi, the culture and vision is unique, probably quite rare even here in the US, and you feel it everywhere, in the tangible and the intangible. I’m so glad it came right out and slapped me in the face. It really is something to be experienced.
Let me try to be more specific.
It all starts with the vision of Jason Peterson and Paul Marobella.
Don’t check all the boxes
Havas Chi is not afraid of bringing different types of people together and allowing them to think differently, right from the HR point of view.
The new creative talents that come to the agency usually don’t check all the boxes, and often don’t have the usual traditional background experience.
But if you have the hustler — entrepreneurial — mentality, and have traction on social media (meaning that you understand how to play the game) you can count on working at Havas Chi.
Most importantly, Havas values the zeal and passion of their new recruits and allows them space to keep and to develop creativity in their own way whilst bringing their own unique values to the agency and it’s clients.
Be sure to check (and follow) the many talented people of this agency: Kevin, Anna, Jonathan, Danny, JC, Dennis, and so many others…
The Annex and other Space considerations
Culture and Vision also shine through when you understand how the workspaces are set up.
They are organized by clients, not expertise, thus enabling the Village concept to prove its relevance. The model is solid: more than 80% of accounts are now driven by creative and media teams.
Then comes The Annex, this beautiful building in the most interesting west town district, quite far from the far more bourgeois River North district where the original Havas Agency is located. The Annex defines itself as a “home of influencers, artists and creative talents, who were once seen as outsiders, but now directly affect pop culture worldwide“… In other words: it’s the “voice of young people“
I am impressed by the concept of establishing an entire building, far removed from the original headquarters, and using it for specific work and projects. (the insta concept work : more of that from my French co worker Virginie).
More and more great American brands, and now even fresh new, up-and-coming, start-ups are using the Annex to connect in a smart way with the millennial audience they are looking for.
Last but not least, the city itself plays a role: it’s the mid west culture. And it’s big! …just discovering Vic Mensa, Chance the Rapper, and the incredible rap and hip hop culture in Chicago is massive.
I recently learnt that Havas Chi is in the running for the best place to work in Chicago…. I wouldn’t be surprised if they finish #1.
