Havas Media Network poaches new group head of strategy

Havas Media Network has poached Wavemaker senior executive Emily Fairhead-Keen to take on the role of group head of strategy.

Having risen to senior strategy partner at Wavemaker since she first joined the business in 2012, in her new role Fairhead-Keen will head up a 10-strong strategy department.

She will be tasked with developing a fully integrated business strategy across Havas Media Network and will provide top level counsel to Havas’ clients including BBC, Domino’s, Bumble, British Red Cross and Ocado.

In her twenty-year career, Fairhead-Keen has worked across both London and Sydney markets with experience across government, FMCG and finance brands.

She is famous for her seminal 2015 “The Future of Brands is Superhuman Paper” which as awarded the IPA President’s prize for an outstanding body of work.

Whilst at Wavemaker she led strategic output for the UK government’s then Public Health England (now Department for Health and Social Care), her work included key behaviour changes like Stoptober for smoking cessation, the Better Health brand and Mind Matters for mental health.

She was also responsible for establishing Wavemaker’s inclusive planning offering which equips tools, partners and process to enhance inclusivity.

Her awards include winning the Australian Grand Effie for NRMA insurance’s Car Creation work.

She also co-founded “Women At Wavemaker”, which acted as a supportive and inspirational group for women at the agency, and hosted a number of inspirational speakers.

Havas Media Network UK & Ireland CEO Patrick Affleck said: “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,” he continued.

“Emily’s breadth of portfolio and success in media strategy speaks for itself. Her seminal work around what being superhuman will really resonate with our clients.” Marketing Beat