Red Havas Shortlisted for PRWeek Purpose Award for Agency of the Year

Red Havas has been named a finalist for the Agency of the Year in the PRWeek Purpose Awards.

Purpose is in our DNA. Our parent company Havas operates with an explicit mission — make a meaningful difference to brands, businesses and people. Red Havas has become the go-to strategic communications agency for clients in 14 markets that need help decoding the purpose landscape or tackling a challenge that will help improve our world. Last year we formalized our purpose practice by launching Red Impact, bringing together our global purpose-centered ESG, sustainability expertise.

We’re the first agency network to earn B Corp certification status, and we’re addressing the diversity imbalance in our industry through recruitment, mentoring and education programs, and college partnerships. In 2020, we became the first agency network to release our diversity data, which we continue to do. We’ve also launched an agency “Redvolutionist” club, created by our Future Leaders (juniors) and attended at all levels, devoted to addressing social justice. We’re a Global Women in PR partner and sponsor the Black Excellence Award for PRSA Pittsburgh.

In the wake of the groundbreaking “Beyond the Surface” liquid billboard campaign we created for adidas in the Middle East, we’ve helped with purpose-related initiatives with global brands such as L’Oréal, ManpowerGroup, Kellogg’s and the life science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. In 2022, we also worked with IKEA Foundation on COP27, rustling up an audience reach of 15.4+million for Global We, the foundation’s project with the Museum for the United Nations, and we mobilized 80+ colleagues to publicize the Save Ukraine #StopWar charity telethon (case included).

Among our clients, we also count UNICEF, Project HOPE (a global health and humanitarian relief organization) and Team Rubicon (a veteran-led humanitarian organization serving global communities in disasters and crises).

Our most notable purpose project during the eligibility period: the Ol’au Palau tourism initiative. Following our globally award-winning Palau Pledge campaign, Ol’au Palau launched in May 2022, unlocking new experiences and places for tourists to the country of Palau, according to how sustainably they act versus how much they spend.

Last September, we maximized awareness of The RBG Endowment Fund auction (which auctioned off Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s personal items) for SOS Children’s Villages, a nonprofit dedicated to vulnerable children and families, with 990 pieces of media.

In October, we began working pro-bono for Luminary Bakery, which creates jobs for socially disadvantaged women in London. Since taking over its press office, we’ve raised awareness of the bakery with marquee coverage that’s earned 19.5 million impressions (see case). And we’ve begun pro bono work on “Blakcast,” Australia’s first Aboriginal-owned podcast network.

Purpose was the subject of a Red Havas white paper last fall; we have a new purpose report forthcoming this summer; and in 2022, top Red Havas executives hosted a PRWeek roundtable, spoke on Provoke Media’s podcast and moderated a panel at PRSA ICON — all on purpose.

Needless to say, this award nomination is especially exciting for everyone on our team who has worked tirelessly to make purpose central to our agency’s identity.

The Purpose Awards Ceremony will be held in Chicago on Oct. 11, 2023.