Havas Media Network UK has appointed a new group head of strategy as part of plans to reimagine the strategy function with more diverse strategic thinkers to support clients’ marketing and digital transformation.
Emily Fairhead-Keen joins from Wavemaker, where she has been since 2012, rising to senior strategy partner and working across some of Wavemaker’s biggest accounts.
Heading up a 10-strong strategy department accessible across the business, Fairhead-Keen will be instrumental in developing a fully integrated business strategy across the agency and provide top-level counsel to its clients, which include BBC, Domino’s, Bumble, British Red Cross and Ocado.
She will play a pivotal role in identifying new opportunities to grow client businesses and outsmart competitors through comprehensive cross-business diagnosis.
Fostering greater creativity in HMN UK’s approach to solving client challenges, she has been briefed to help clients become more customer-centric organisations by delivering more seamless marketing experiences.
In her 20-year career, Fairhead-Keen has worked across the London and Sydney agency markets, including senior roles at Mediacom, Vizeum, and Mediaedge, building a diverse portfolio of strategic work across government, entertainment, FMCG and finance.
At Wavemaker, she led strategic output for the UK Government’s Public Health England (now Department for Health & Social Care), tackling the nation’s toughest issues, such as smoking, mental health and obesity.
Her work has included key behaviour change programmes such as Stoptober for smoking cessation, launching the Better Health brand and more recently an Effie finalist for Every Mind Matters for mental health.
She played an integral part in winning the Australian Grand Effie for NRMA insurance’s Car Creation work and most recently, was shortlisted on Media Week’s ‘Best Use of Retail Media’ for Alpro, Danone.
Fairhead-Keen also established Wavemaker’s inclusive planning offering which equips teams with tools, partners and process to bake inclusivity into every plan.
Havas Media Network UK & Ireland chief executive Patrick Affleck said: “As the blurring of lines between the different marketing disciplines accelerates, strategy is the ultimate connector that can bind together a diverse range of capabilities in a seamless experience for customers.
“The group head of strategy will be critical for the future success of our business, as we look to reimagine the agency model, delivering new forms of value creation for us and our clients both in the short- and longer-term.
“Emily’s breadth of portfolio and success in media strategy speaks for itself. Her work will really resonate with our clients.”
Fairhead-Keen added: “There is a momentum and dynamism in the business, a real desire to do amazing work. It’s an energy I’ve not seen at other agencies: entrepreneurial and agile; charismatic and down-to-earth; and brutally honest.
“The feeling of being a boutique agency with global backing is palpable. I am excited by Havas’ growing village of agencies as well as it’s distinct offering when it comes to both cultural insight and creative excellence. I’ve already met the team, who are absolutely brilliant, and am excited to get started and get to know the clients.”
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