Lynn Madeley (centre) with Havas Academy interns
Businesses that emphasise the importance of meaningful connections with their various audiences are proving to be more profitable than those who underestimate its importance. This belief stems from real-life statistics proving that by creating these meaningful connections brands see a nine-fold share increase. Havas’s proprietary research and insight tool, Meaningful Brands® has been invaluable in providing research to back this core belief.
Havas Southern Africa does not only live this in all aspects of its functioning as a business, but it also values the importance of making an impact on its employees and the society within which we operate. Nothing speaks to this more than the establishment of the Havas Academy, a training and development arm within Havas that focuses on empowering black women who want to enter the marketing and communications sector. The initiative is an expression of our purpose within the business and our purpose within our society. We have recognised a skills deficit in our society and we are taking action and addressing it with the Havas Academy. By placing an emphasis on the empowerment of young black women in the industry we are helping meet a socio-economic need for society, and are helping black women interested in marketing and communications live out their purpose.
We recently welcomed John Davenport into the Havas Village to lead our creative. His track record in the advertising industry, and his holistic approach in leading purpose-driven business resonated greatly with us. His addition will prove invaluable in our mission to forge deep connections both within the business as he leads with Havas Academy, and between our clients and their target audiences.
For business, true purpose exists not only in what is achieved on the outside but – in an equally importance sense – internally as well. What it comes down to is being able to make a meaningful difference to the people we work with – whether it is our partner clients, our people or society. I believe that emphasising this as much as the bottom line is the definition of true business success.
