Welcome To The Empire — BETC
The first week of Havas Lofts has commenced and I have the honor of being in Paris at BETC. I knew coming here from Chicago, that BETC was the best agency in the village. That’s an understatement. Along with their long list of award-winning work, BETC just opened a massive (and by massive I mean a fortress) new office in Pantin just outside of Paris. This 20,000 square meter or 200,000 square foot concrete empire has been coined “the future of ad agencies”.
It’s hard to put into words exactly how incredible this space is. I’ve only scratched the surface of all the amenities here, but what I have seen is 2 towers (5 floors each), a restaurant, open seating wherever you want, personal lockers, a gym, a garden, a courtyard, and nap room (pictures to follow).
It seems to be straight business here. From what I can gather, everyone here is very busy. For the most part, people keep to themselves and work hard throughout the day, excluding the many cigarette breaks. With their open seating system, you are free to move around as you wish. Come back from lunch and your spot is taken by someone else. If you need to find someone, simply use their app to locate them. Yes, they have an app that locates people for you.
As an observation, it seems to me that meetings are less of a priority and simply working is the norm. Back in the states, meetings can consume all of your day to day activities and before you know it, late nights and takeout become a daily routine.
I’m excited to learn more from this amazing agency. A month is a very short time and week 1 is already in the books. There’s so much ground left to cover.
Have a great weekend everyone!
MB
