The mix: Culture, Innovation, Passion
Innovation is a BIG word. We all need to keep that word in mind, especially in our constantly changing and evolving sector. Creativity is the soul of advertising and branding and it needs to be an always-on activity.
Culture is the strongest differentiator for a company; it is it’s character and way of being. All organizations need to have their own personality, culture, and differentiation value, then, there will be opportunity for stronger performance.
Passion is something which comes from your heart. Working with passion is easier and most likely will give better results. Millenials are a clear example of passion and are key in every organization nowadays. They see the world differently. They come to the market with fresh ideas and help the company to align with what’s going on in the world. They are very influential cohort. They have a different way of socializing and also more preferences from the preceding generations. They are demanding and have the ¨me, me, me¨ attitude whiling wanting everything right now. They care about experiences more than ¨things¨ and they are the first generation who grew up with computers/technology, which is why they are technology addictive. If I was asked to summarize it in one sentence, I would say that in the past, people would adapt to a role while nowadays millenials create their own roles.
After visiting and having some meetings with The Annex team, I realized that they were able to combine these 3 key elements and build a successful concept: THE ANNEX (powered by Havas Chicago).
The Annex definitely has its own personality and environment, with cool music all day and surrounded by nice art pieces and cutting-edge desks. They hire creative minds coming from different backgrounds; influencers, photographers, musicians & designers.
They know how to do a successful influencers campaign thanks to being influencers themselves. They know how to shoot for photographs and take the best angle and perspective of an image because they are photographers as well.
Most of the employees at The Annex are Millenials who live ife at the maximum level. Their job is their passion.
Also, The Annex has a unique way of hiring their talent. Let me give you some examples:
Gareth Pon (@ garethpon), a photographer from South Africa, has thousands of followers on Instagram paired with a unique style. Havas Chicago noticed his talent for photography and his large social media following and offered him a job. You can follow Gareth’s account here: https://www.instagram.com/garethpon/?hl=es
Another case is about Tobi Shinobi (@ tobishinobi), a former lawyer from London who had a passion for photography. Like Gareth, Havas Chicago noticed that Tobi had garnered a large Instagram following for his amazing photos and they brought him in for a job. You can follow Tobi’s account here: https://www.instagram.com/tobishinobi/?hl=es
Jason Peterson (@ jasonmpeterson) Chairman, Chief Creative Officer for Havas North America & President and CCO for Havas Chicago— one of The Annex creators has over a million followers. You can follow him here: https://www.instagram.com/jasonmpeterson/?hl=es
Danny Mota (@ dannymota) was contacted by Jason through IG saying something like: “I like your pictures and your creativity, let’s meet tomorrow to take some pictures in some cool areas of Chicago”, so they met and he was hired at the end. Danny´s account: https://www.instagram.com/dannymota/?hl=es
How cool is it to have those kinds of interviews? Having an interview around something which is your passion, just taking beautiful photos.
Another thing which got my attention was the way they encourage the millennials to start an internship at The Annex. Every millennial with more than 50k followers had the opportunity to start working at The Annex as an intern.
Not only are they special in the way they hire but also in the way they pitch for a brand like COKE, one of the most recognized brands in the world.
Most of the companies work in a very strategic document and present a PPT during the pitch process. The Annex team decided to make a Snapchat video of a millennial journey and they just gave a phone to the client with the pitch for them to watch. The team was confident that it was the best pitch possible rather than making a standard presentation, so they thought why not just go for it? They made it through the pitch process and won!
Here is the link with the presentation:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i2rjldth2enct2k/Havas_2016_Coke_RFP.MOV?dl=0
This week we had the opportunity to attend the Photos & Videos master class, sponsored by Red Bull in The Annex office. The Annex creators told us in a very informal way how the concept got started and how they got inspired showing us some pictures of their past.
As said, millennials are always on their phones since they find there all they need: buying travel tickets, booking an Uber, checking their favorite sites and apps … which is why mobile is the main focus rather than desktop and most of the traffic to the sites come from mobile.
Reaching the right target in the right moment with the right message (with an interactive format which make them engage with the brand) is the way to do it nowadays.
Below is a Mobext example for¨Dior Poison Girl¨campaign done in Chicago with a transparent Interstitial format which obtained strong results.
