On Advertising Champions, our host, Tony Stanol, interviews bright and engaging members of the digital advertising and media community. On this segment, Tony speaks with Tim Maleeny of Havas.
Havas Creative Group is a global communications network, developing integrated marketing and advertising campaigns that drive meaningful growth for our clients.
How do you define success?
Breakthrough creativity, winning culture, and client growth. Those three go hand in hand, and only by hiring and nurturing the right teams of ideators, collaborators, and creative contrarians can you develop breakthrough strategies and memorable campaigns that drive meaningful growth for clients’ businesses and their brands.
How did you get started in your field or work?
Started in production in cable television, moved into advertising after grad school, and have self-navigated across agencies and geographies to stay at the forefront of the evolution of this business, from new ways of working to emerging tech.
What’s one thing we should know that makes your company unique?
My own approach to solving problems mirrors Havas at its best, a constant collaboration in which roles are blurred, ideas flow freely, and you iterate your way to something meaningful and great. (As agencies scale it becomes increasingly hard to keep things organic, interactive, and human, but that’s what makes the difference between working on an idea that can truly shift a business versus merely making mediocrity at scale, so HOW you work together determines the quality of the work you make together.)
What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome in your business?
Compromise, complacency, and apathy. The business world is increasingly risk-averse, and the push to make marketing more predictable and quantifiable has put continued pressure on CMOs and agencies to look for a sure thing, cut costs wherever possible, and compromise. That looks good on a spreadsheet, but we have to remember that nobody wakes up looking for an ad or hoping to add a new brand to their daily lives. Much like the entertainment industry, the challenges often come from the tension between the messiness of creativity and the financial pressures to de-risk and play it safe.
