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How independent agency 7thingsmedia tweaked the nose of multinational goliath Havas

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By Michael Feeley | Founder and chief exec

January 30, 2015 | 4 min read

When multinational advertising and PR agency Havas recently decided to erect billboards around London to welcome its 300-strong global leadership team to the UK for an internal conference, independent digital marketing agency 7thingsmedia seized the opportunity to respond with a tongue-in-cheek ad of their own.

The Drum spoke to 7thingsmedia’s founder and chief executive officer Chris Bishop to find out more…

How did the idea for this cheeky micro-campaign come about?

We comment a lot about traditional advertising being no longer traditional and opportunity being everywhere and typically in real-time. So we are well versed in joining in the conversation to cut through the noise.

The Havas fun started the afternoon prior when I noticed one of their adverts on the Tube coming back from a client meeting. At the time I actually thought it was a placeholder mistake.

It was then at night I saw Paul Frampton tweeting stating they were part of wider outdoor campaign welcoming his global Havas colleagues to a meeting in London.

So it started a little Twitter conversation…

How quickly did you make it happen, from the initial idea to the final execution?

Upon deciding to do something, the idea was mocked up within minutes. I quickly drafted a few lines of copy and a similar ad and emailed it to a friend of mine who happens to who own a design studio, Stone Creative Design, who quickly created the piece.

The only deliberation was to go with the line “Working, whilst others just look busy” or “Working, whilst goliaths just look busy”! We went with the 'goliath' line in the end, which sparked the idea for the "EverybodyPullsForDavid" hashtag.

What infrastructure/resources/experience did you need to make it happen so quickly? Can you offer any tips for others?

Having the copywriter, the creative, the ad planner is one thing but I feel it’s the relentless appetite, fire and energy that gets the cut through!

Humour is, obviously, subjective. How confident were you that your response billboard was striking the right tone? And, what message were you aiming to portray?

Very confident in the fact people that who know 7thingsmedia and me personally would love it. One client contact actually emailed the day after simply saying: “Brilliant!”

Comedy levels the playing field and is the perfect weapon for 7thingsmedia to use as we make our mark on the industry. Superpower, privilege, wealth all mean nothing, in this context, the skill of the execution becomes the advantage.

The ambush, stunt, call it what you will, is simply an indication of what 7thingsmedia is all about, our spirit, our drive and not being afraid of taking on the goliaths!

It’s that agency personality that has got us to where we are today and why so many brands want to work with us. Despite our growth, it will always remain part of 7thingsmedia’s DNA.

You chose to engage Havas’ UK CEO Paul Frampton directly via Twitter? Again, were you confident that your ad would be received in the right spirit?

No. But what was he realistically going to do?

But I must give credit to Paul for taking it on the chin and actually congratulating us. Like in the FA Cup everyone loves it when the big team gets brought down a peg or in American Football when the faster, exciting up-and-coming quarterback replaces the sluggish, lacklustre old timer.

Paul showed his appreciation for our giant-killing.

What other responses has the ad generated to date online and from the industry?

My phone was busy. Ranging from messages from directors’ of other ad agencies, brands, digital trade bodies and other press outlets – all stating their amusement at the stunt but also the underlying message it carried.

Interestingly one press outlet commented they really liked it, but didn’t want to run a story on it in fear of upsetting Havas.

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