Laura Aldington, the former CEO of Host/Havas and Host, has taken a leap from a big agency into the unknown, forming with two colleagues an independent with a difference
She joins Simone Gupta, CEO of Havas PR, and Jon Austin, executive creative director of Host/Havas, to launch Supermassive, with an ambition to set a benchmark in non-traditional advertising and earned media.
They want an agency creating ads that don’t look like ads: they must entertain more than interrupt; lean into popular culture and not compete with it; outsmart when they can’t outspend;and make people want things by making things they actually want.
“We have all experienced up close with what an entrepreneurial agency feels like,” Aldington told AdNews.
“But it's the first time any of us have founded our own business from the ground up. So that's exciting.”
They’ve all worked closely together at Havas,
“It's easier to have a fast start when we already know how to get stuff done together, and how our values are aligned,” Aldington says.
“But all the advice that we've had from people who have started businesses is at a certain point, you do have to leap off the edge and see what comes along.
“We’ve all held pretty senior leadership positions before, so, hopefully, it means we know what we're doing.”
The independent agency sector is a vibrant one in Australia, with an industry body to represent it, IMAA (Independent Media Agencies Australia) run by Sam Buchanan.
But why leave a senior role at a big global agency, with all its stability advantages, for the uncertainty of a new business?
“The three of us probably came to the conclusions all quite independently of each other that we wanted to do something different with the next chapter of our careers,” Aldington says..
“We just realised how aligned our visions were … the opportunity to build something entirely from scratch, so it can be more about revolution and less about evolution. It's just such an awesome opportunity.”
Is it about money?
“Obviously, if we're going to make money it'll be nice that it will just be for us but it's certainly not what's driven us,” Aldington says.
“I think what's been really awesome is getting back to doing what we love, and finding loads of joy and energy. And being back in the back in the thick of it.
“We just love brands and comms and working closely with clients and ideas and creativity.”
The entrepreneurial spirit that attracts many to stay in the industry could be a driver to take a chance with starting an agency..
“We want to create something that's a bit disruptive and a bit different,” she says.
“If that doesn't exist already, then you've got to create it. If that's what you're looking for I think we could see a landscape where I think clients need their partners to be more agile, more collaborative, more progressive, less traditional."
At the start it will be just the three of them but they have a combined contact book of world class talent, creators and collaborators across music, tech, gaming, sport and entertainment.
“We’re bringing all of this knowledge together to create a fresh operating model that builds bespoke teams around what a client needs, rather than serving them what we have,” Aldington says.
“The model will be also around collaboration and building more bespoke teams around client needs
“In the Host model we had a huge network of collaborators that we worked with, outside of our four walls.
“So there are people that will be working with. The industry has changed quite a lot in that some of the best talent are no longer working in traditional roles and you can build an incredible bespoke team if you approach it in a slightly less traditional way.”
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