Independent ad agency Howatson+Company, at just two years old, has won some of the industry’s most prestigious awards but that's not a priority for founder and chief executive officer Chris Howatson.
“I think we're doing really well, but I definitely don't think we’re a ‘hot agency’,” Howatson told AdNews, “because we've only been here for two years.”
“I want to be like Usain Bolt that can win the 100 metres every year - that's the kind of the standard we want, rather than show up, have a really good race and not show up again.”
Starting the agency almost immediately after resigning from CHEP as CEO, Chris Howatson’s agency is widely seen as a wonder within the industry and an indicator of what can be done in a short time.
But since industry awards are judged 12 months behind current work, Howatson doesn’t let the wins define his agency.
“Awards are an essential part of our industry and we wear our wins with an enormous badge of pride, but you can't believe in them too much as they're part of the system rather than the end game,” Howatson said.
“The industry awards are a reinforcement that we’re heading in the right direction, rather than our endpoint.”
Instead, looking to the consistent quality of The Monkey’s as inspiration, Howatson’s growth is focused on sustainability which includes a culture of turning down work and staff that don’t fit that long-term ambition.
“We don't pitch on something unless we really care about it because we don't want to take on clients or bring in people that don't fit our culture or dilute the humaneness and the familyness of our agency,” Howatson said.
"We have to figure out how to run this marathon for 30 years."
Howatson started the agency when he was 37, and despite holding firm that Howatson+Co will always remain independent, he’s hoping to retire at 67.
Having managed nearly 380 people as CEO of CHEP, Howatson is capping his agency staff at an intimate 200 as another pledge to sustainable growth.
“At that [200 person] point culture becomes a bit more mechanical and [the agency can] lose the magic a bit,” Howatson said. “At 200 people we've got really intimate offices and across Sydney and Melbourne who will still all know each other.”
Howatson+Co launched with 32 staff across Sydney and Melbourne and seven clients all signing on without a pitch. These past relationships helped develop an instant sense of intimate agency culture, Renee Hyde, managing director at Howatson+Company, told AdNews.
“We tend to hire from our networks, as we bought in new people they also brought in the best of their networks,” Hyde said.
“We started relationships with people we knew, with clients we knew and that's really important to us and I think knowing [them personally] is how you get the best out of people.”
Renee Hyde and Chris Howatson.
Culture naturally attracts as much as it repels
From the early recruitment stages the agency is really clear about wanting people to come to Howatson+Co to do the best work of their lives and are upfront about its high performance culture.
“Some of the reason Chris and I wanted to [start the agency] is because we felt the industry was getting too far away from the work,” Hyde said.
“We don't need to add a pool table to make it fun because what our jobs are is fucking cool - at least my kids think so.
“I think part of the buzz and the appeal [of the agency] is that we're making awesome work together that has a meaningful contribution to the world, rather than shiny stuff that makes people want to come here because they think the benefits are good.”
Culturally, Howatson+Co is very proud that its staff seeks enjoyment from the work but of course “some people aren't up for that, some people don't want the challenge and don't want to be pushed,” Howatson said.
“While that's not a bad thing, that naturally rules some people in and some people out in our talent attraction.”
Howatson+Company staff.
A perfect picture, but what is the agency’s biggest challenge?
As a result, both clients and staff at Howatson+Co are aligned with the same motivations and goals, but the current project-dominated market is the agency's biggest challenge.
“While there's a lot of pitches out there, the pitches are for small project work that may just last for just a campaign development period," Howatson said.
“You might have a big pitch, where you've got six high calibre agencies pitching, which costs everyone probably $100,000, but that project has maybe only provide six months of revenue and then it stops. That's not the end of the relationship, as work might come back later.
“But the era of 10-15 years ago when an agency won a client and got that account exclusive for the next four years with a retainer has really gone.
“So the challenge for our whole industry right now, I think, is the balance between investing in attracting new clients and making sure you don't do that too much at the detriment of what you've got.
“What we [Howatson+Co] always do is look at what we’ve got and see if we have any extra capacity. If we do we can then take on a pitch. But if that pitch is gonna make us work weekends or late nights then we won't take it on.”
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