The work speaks for itself.
They say agencies are always built around the people, the core of the agency. Those who embrace the ideology and ethos and go out of their way to actively promote it. Here at Havas Lemz, I get the impression that it is very much the core belief that powers the people. People are proud to work here, proud to put their name against a client or project and proud to be doing their part towards a better world.
At Lemz they have the experience to know that the world is changing rapidly. People want to engage with a company or a brand that shares the same values as they do. We connect on a emotional level. Advertising research reveals that the consumer’s emotional response to an ad has far greater influence on their reported intent to buy a product than does the ad’s content.
Lemz believe meaning and money go perfectly hand-in-hand. They help companies in finding ways to be profitable and contribute to a better world at the same time, all with a holistic approach and a holistic execution.
When I sat down with Willem on my first morning he talked so passionately and strongly about why he’s here and what he is driving Lemz towards. He mentioned ‘encapsulated chaos’, ‘taking care of ours’ and that ‘Creativity can solve problems in the world that politicians can’t’. This is perfectly reflected by the Make Friends campaign. The brain child of Lemz co-founder and Strategy Director Mark Woerde and letsheal.org.
In the campaign, the worlds most influential religious leaders — from Pope Francis to The Dalai Lama — released a joint appeal on video calling on the people of the world, to unify, and make friends across religions.
Sticking to your values mean you’ll work with great people — and great clients will always challenge and support you. There always needs to be a perfect blend between the social impact vs business goals.
“We think the future is for companies that use their power to bring a positive change to the world.”
There are so many other projects that embody this ethos, Sweetie a campaign that won three D&AD distinctions (white, black and yellow pencils), and racked up millions of impressions, shares and views worldwide. Work for Rabobank, (below) and plenty more on the Lemz’ site.
One of my favourites is the campaign for IKEA. How can they improve the quality of sleep for so many Dutch people? A good night’s rest is very important. Yet people often fail to wake up well rested. As a result they are less comfortable and less productive. In this campaign, IKEA helps you to turn your bedroom into a place to recharge.
An perfect example of goal/aim, insight, idea, execution working perfectly together to create something truly brilliant. Just like our devices, we also require charging every night.
My biggest take away so far is the fact that doing good and making the world a better place is in the DNA here. The zone based department set up (read more about that in my last blog) and lack of hierarchy all help develop a closer relationship with the client. Purely dedicated teams working together with the sole purpose of producing creative work with a difference.
How do you get happy clients? Great work.
How do you get great work?
A happy team.
The attitude and culture here is something I think we should embrace in England, for example one of our clients was in for a kickoff meeting this week. Meanwhile I had been busy designing up some billboard visuals with one of the senior creative teams here. As the client was greeting and chatting with some others, we decided to give her a sneak peek of the designs. Very informal, casual chat about the thought process and how we tackled the brief. To cut a long story short, she loved the designs and even took some snaps on her iPhone to share with the wider team.
Right, that’s enough from me.
Got a meeting with Tim, the Strategy Director in a minute, so I’ll leave you with some words of advice I hear a lot here.
“and don’t forget to enjoy your day”.
Tune in next week for the final instalment of my month living and working in one of the best cities in the world, Amsterdam.
