Meet: Frédéric Josué, Founder 18 Havas
Convergence empowers smart connections and leads to a new and radical approach to the way we consider media
Interconnected cities facilitate new forms of mediation and socialization. Agencies and brands need to invest time and money in connected spaces.
Where do you come from and how did you end up working at 18?
I studied Economics –Finance and Econometry– and worked ever since as a Strategist mainly for Havas. As soon as my boss and I understood that governance was irreversibly impacted by digital, I decided to create 18 Havas. Long story short, creativity — understood as the capacity to provide new ideas, concepts, thought patterns, and by extension generate new business — is not scarce anymore. Innovation mainly comes from research and entrepreneurship.
18 Havas delivers disruptive innovation to Havas execs and clients by connecting with leading universities and early to mid stage startups. In modern organizations impacted by digital and the platform economy, strategy and creation decision-making are inside the matrix, creativity and production means are outside. This is because you can’t compete with a digital-native generation that has reclaimed the means of production. Our approach is based on neutrality and strong expertise. We want to be able to present business opportunities with entry barriers, where human skills are more important than technology.
What’s the most exciting innovation on the market now? What is defining the next 18 months to you?
Convergence and decreasing price of technologies are the most exciting source of innovation. Everything that you see around is pretty old, but current GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) and CPUs (Central Processing Units) on one side, 5G and IOT on the other are powerful enough to accelerate engineering and deliver great machine learning. That is the main reason why new forms of entertainment and mediation like Location Based Entertainment, chatbots, or voice navigation are slowly entering the B2C markets and generating business. eSports is supposed to generate $700m in 2017, and VR and AR are set to generate $150bn by 2021.
But watch out — all this convergence empowers smart connections and leads to a new and radical approach to the way we consider media. Smart Cities and the platform economy they generate are the new media. Dominique Delport introduced the notion of Organic Media, and 18 Havas will continue building on this great vision with thanks to Alex McDowell and his World Building Institute at USC through iterations of Organic Media X.0. By this, I mean understanding how these interconnected cities facilitate new forms of mediation and socialization. Agencies and brands need to invest time and money in connected spaces.
What’s a great example of innovative marketing in your opinion?
I am totally fascinated by Yvon Chouinard a French-Canadian rock climber, environmentalist, and outdoor industry businessman. His company, Patagonia, has developed a great marketing approach considering its business as an organic and holistic ecosystem. I think his book The Responsible Company: What We’ve Learned from Patagonia’s First 40 Years is an absolute must read. Further, look at their 2016 Black Friday promotions. They announced they would give 100% of their global retail and online Black Friday sales directly to grassroots nonprofits working on the frontline to protect the air, water, and soil for future generations. It generated $10m. Most customers follow the brand’s engagement and are, like myself, loyal. In the chaotic consumer path to purchase, loyalty is key.
What’s your favorite TV series, movie, video game, or music?
I don’t have a favorite something. I am eclectic. I loved Ray Donovan and the power of his back story. I loved The OA and the mixture of several forms of art, and thinking about the way these guys pitched this avant garde show to Netflix. I loved Orange Is The New Black and women representation, Transparent, Sense8… I mean all this Indy style of creation that provides real, empathetic and caring heroes compared to the empty ones from older franchises. Meaningfulness is everything in our connected world. People might not buy your shit forever.
