The National Heart Foundation has selected Host/Havas as its new creative agency, with One Green Bean providing PR services, following a competitive pitch process.
The Heart Foundation’s brief will include a new marketing strategy and creative direction for the national organisation, including a major brand push in early 2019, its first for a number of years.
The aim of the work will be to inspire Australians in the fight against heart disease – Australia’s single leading cause of death, killing one Australian every 30 minutes.
The brand refresh is being spearhead by the Heart Foundation’s newly appointed chief marketing officer, Chris Taylor.
“Heart disease has lost its fear factor in recent years. So, if there’s one message we need to get across to Australians, it’s that heart disease can strike at any time and does not discriminate,” he said.
“Delivering this message will be a key focus for us, in working with Host/Havas, to reinvigorate our market positioning and creative platforms.”
After a competitive two-phased tender process, agencies were invited to present their three-year brand strategy for the Heart Foundation.
A selected shortlist was then invited to present the creative and activation ideas to bring the strategy to life, before Host/Havas was chosen to handle the account.
“The team at Host/Havas demonstrated they are much more than a typical creative agency,” Taylor said.
“The calibre of their strategic and creative thinking, their open and collaborative way of working and their ability to think outside of traditional communications makes them an excellent choice to help lead the Heart Foundation deliver on its next three-year strategic plan.”
Host/Havas CEO Laura Aldington said: “We spend a lot of time in our industry reminding ourselves that we’re not saving lives, so the chance to actually do so for the Heart Foundation is beyond motivating. We are thrilled and can’t wait to get started.”
Jon Austin, executive creative director at Host/Havas, added: “As soon as we met Chris and his team at the outset of this process, we knew we had an incredible opportunity on our hands, for a client who genuinely shares our belief that world-class creativity is the only way to deliver world-class results.”
