Coll led The Most Powerful Arm Ever Invented to glory – including a D&AD Nomination this week in Technological innovation in Digital.
He is to head up the creative department at Droga5 Sydney.
Founding creative partner and executive creative director, Duncan Marshall, will move into a regional role and work across Droga5 partners, William Morris Endeavor and IMG.
David Nobay, creative chairman and co-founder Droga5 Sydney remarked (astutely), “…in Steve, we’ve found someone who’s proved a steely ambition to push innovation over the finish line, tied to a naturally infectious curiosity that makes him a natural fit for our management line-up.”
When Steve Coll was named Havas Creative Group Person of the Year at the Havas Group’s global leadership meeting in New York, he attributed his acclaim to teamwork. “This is a special award to receive. But anyone who works with us knows we are a tight-knit management team, and it’s very much a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. The goal for Ant, Phil, Alex and myself has always been to turn the agency’s creative reputation around in the belief that business would follow, which has been the case.”
That shows that Havas picked the right creative to top its honour roll, and the right man to be the first Australian there.
Coll is not the kind of bloke to pump up his own tyres. Let’s do that for him.
The Havas Creative Group is made up of 316 offices in 75 countries belonging to the Havas Worldwide network, plus 16 agencies in 15 countries in the Arnold micronetwork and a smaller group of local agencies. There were a lot of potential Persons of the Year.
Coll has been executive creative director for just a smidge more than three years (since November 2010). He (and, he stresses, his teams) have crammed into 38 months:
1.The agency’s first ever Cannes Lions in 2012
2. Eleven Lions in two years across many clients, including Reckitt Benckiser and Virgin Mobile
3. Gold at the Clios
4. Four IAB Creative Showcase Awards from January to August 2013. And Havas is not a digital agency.
5, Great ads Australians remember: Sony 4K Ultra HD TV. Never Experienced TVC July, 2013; Durex Fundawear (“the future of foreplay”) and The Most Powerful Arm for Save our Sons; Vanish Napisan Sponsor the White House (you gotta watch this one)…Fair Go Bro, the campaign about a bloke who’s affable humility mirrors Coll’s, and bring back Louie the Fly for Mortein.
When a creative group head at AMV BBDO, Col won the inaugural Cannes Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness with the Walkers Sandwich campaign.
When a creative group head at Leo Burnett Sydney, he wrote McDonald’s Inner Child, which was named in Campaign Brief’s ‘Top Ten Ads of the Decade 2000-2010.
Applause from the Havas admen who know him best includes:
Havas Worldwide Australia chief executive officer, Anthony Gregorio: “This award is great recognition for a fabulous talent. The work produced by Steve and his creative department has created real momentum around the agency over the past few years. The emphasis on true integration has helped us attract some wonderful talent, and fantastic clients. Now, with the addition of Havas Media, I believe we are starting to develop a truly outstanding offering.”
Havas Worldwide Global chief executive officer, Andrew Bennett: “Collaboration is the focus for the Worldwide Havas Group, and the entire management in Sydney exemplify that in the way they work. Australia is now rivaling some of the bigger, established agencies in the network, which is an excellent achievement.”
