Category: News

A Whole New World of Employee Engagement: Ep. 18 of Red Sky Fuel for Thought Podcast

What You’ll Learn in This Episode: 

  • Different ways companies are driving connection in a hybrid work environment 
  • How the 3 P’s (pandemic, polarizing politics, and protests around social justice) have changed employee engagement and internal communications 
  • Why communicating with HEAT (Humanity, Empathy, Accountability and Transparency) is imperative 
  • How to act on mission and purpose through interactions with employees and stakeholders  

LISTEN HERE.

As offices closed and sent workers into an unfamiliar remote environment amid the height of the pandemic, internal communications rapidly became more essential — and more human — than ever before. This is according to Red Havas’s recent white paper, A Whole New World of Employee Engagement, which features interviews from top internal communicators worldwide to bring forth five key findings about the new era of employee engagement. 

In this episode, Red Havas’ Linda Descano, CFA, is joined by Rebecca Reffell, strategy director at Havas People and Kathryn Reichert, director of employee communications at Equitable to dive into these findings and discuss how current events have combined to change perceptions about employee engagement, internal communications, and company purpose. 

“PURPOSE IS IMPORTANT” 

“A strategy should seek to connect employees to the mission and vision of where they’re working, connect employees to senior leaders, and connect employees to each other,” says Kathryn. “Internal comms have become more honest, more direct, and more of a partner to employees rather than just pushing out information.” 

Says Rebecca, “Purpose is really important to people. Engagement from employees increases when they’re able to make a strong connection between company’s purpose and what they do on a day-to-day basis.”

ADVICE FOR COMMUNICATORS IN 2022 

To round out the discussion, both of our guests reflected on their personal experiences and offered advice for communicators and brand marketers going into 2022.  

“Make sure that your brand, both internally and externally, reflects your mission, vision and values,” says Kathryn. “Make sure that it really speaks for who you are as a company.”  

Says Rebecca, “We must always ask, what does this mean to the people we’re trying to communicate with? These people are not just employees; they’re humans. What do they need and want out of this situation? I think internal communications has a great opportunity to connect with other parts of the business that influence employee engagement and employee experience.” 

“FINDING INTERESTING STORIES” WITH STEVE FONTANOT 

The episode wraps with Red Havas VP of Social & Content Nancy Anderson and our Red Questionnaire guest Steve Fontanot, managing director at Red Havas AU and Havas Blvd. Their conversation spans many topics, including his go-to show or podcast (other than this one, of course!), his favorite travel destination (Thailand) and how he describes his job to his family. 

“There are some days where I count lots of numbers, and there are some days I get to look at some really cool videos,” says Steve on the latter. “The part I love the most [about my job] is finding interesting stories to share with people.” 

Give “Red Sky Fuel for Thought” a listen, and subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or your favorite podcasting app. Don’t forget to rate and review to help more people find us! 

 

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RED HAVAS HEALTH EXPANDS ACROSS EUROPE, ADDING NEW LEADERSHIP FOR FRANCE AND GERMANY

Justine Piechatzek joins as GM in Germany and Roxane Philippe joins as Director in France

November 16, 2021—Red Havas Health, the health-focused PR micro-network launched earlier this year as part of the Red Havas Group and powered by Havas Health & You, has announced two new global leadership appointments. Justine Piechatzek joins as General Manager in Germany and Roxane Philippe joins as Director in France.  This announcement follows last week’s news of Red Havas’s addition of Red Havas Spain, Germany, China, France, and Italy,

Justine Piechatzek becomes General Manager for Red Havas Health Germany. A trusted leader in health communications, Justine most recently served as Group Head at MCG Medical Consulting Group. She previously held roles at Ketchum Pleon and Ogilvy Healthworld. Justine will report locally to Dirk Poschenrieder, Managing Director of Havas Life Dusseldorf, as the group continues to bring its PR and advertising services closer together.

Roxane Philippe will serve as Director of Red Havas Health France. She brings a breadth of agency leadership experience, having worked at By Agency Communication, Hill + Knowlton and Elan Edelman. She will report locally to Loris Repellin, CEO Havas Health & You France, and Julien Carette, CEO Havas Paris. In her new role, Roxane will be responsible for developing and growing the health PR offer with the group’s current group clients, as well as new business, in addition to working with the global Red Havas Health teams.

In making this announcement, Red Havas Global CEO James Wright said, “Germany and France are important strategic markets for us as we build out our global health capabilities beyond our established markets. We now have over 160 health specialists around the world working with our clients to communicate the human stories behind the science, which has never been more important than it is today. We are delighted to have Justine and Roxane join the team as the Red Havas Health brand continues to gain quick momentum following our launch in March this year.”

John Hackney, CEO Europe of Havas Health & You added, “This is an important strategic addition to our HH&Y competence within Europe. Our clients require deeper and more meaningful connectivity with their audiences. The Red Havas Health network and service offer is a key part of delivering this, alongside our other established health PR agencies Havas Just and Havas SO.” 

As demand for health communications continues to grow, the additions of France and Germany build on the Red Havas Health network across the U.S, U.K, the Middle East, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Spain, China, and Italy. Backed by the Havas Health & You network, the Red Havas Health brand is at the forefront of redefining health communications with its unique Merged Media approach that integrates earned, social and experiential capabilities with content at the heart.  The agency plans on further expansion throughout 2021-2022 and will partner with the other existing PR assets across the Havas Group where needed to address client needs.

To learn more about Red Havas Health, visit www.redhavashealth.com.

About Red Havas

Red Havas has over 20 offices in 13 markets around the world and is part of the Havas PR Global Collective, the PR and communications arm of the Havas Group that comprises approximately 40 agencies around the world and more than 1,300 employees. Red Havas’ strategic “Merged Media” model brings together traditional and digital publishing, content, social media and data within a single infrastructure. For further information, please visit: www.redhavas.com.  

About Havas Health & You 

Havas Health & You unites Havas Life, Health4Brands (H4B), Lynx, Havas Life PR and Havas Health Plus, all wholly owned health and communications networks, with the consumer health businesses and practices of Havas Creative Group. Its customer-centric approach has the talent, tenacity and technology that health and wellness companies, brands, and people need to thrive in today’s world. For more information, go to www.HavasHealthandYou.com. 

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BRANDS & TIKTOK: DON’T WALK, RUN: EP. 16 OF RED SKY FUEL FOR THOUGHT PODCAST

What You’ll Learn in This Episode: 

  • What TikTok is and what it isn’t 
  • What differentiates TikTok from other platforms 
  • How TikTok can sell—even Brussels sprouts! 
  • What success looks like on TikTok

Far more than just an app to share funny videos, TikTok has become a social force to be reckoned with. Three billion worldwide downloads to date place it as the fifth non-gaming app to do so since 2014. And, in the first half of 2021, TikTok was the most downloaded non-gaming app in the world with 383 million downloads. It’s quickly become a meeting place for diverse communities, organisations and individuals ranging from teenagers to master chefs to some of the largest brands in the world—all looking to entertain and be entertained.

WHAT MAKES TIKTOK TICK?

In this special episode, Linda Descano, CFA®, EVP, corporate communications and executive visibility, sits down with Dan Brough, head of U.S. agency partnerships at TikTok, to talk about the power of this cultural phenomenon. Dan discusses what it is: “the next generation entertainment platform, really reinventing how people and brands connect,” and what makes it different: “it really is the only platform where they come together for two reasons, to co-create and co-experience content.”

Dan also reflects on the evolution of TikTok, from being perceived as a “dance app for teenagers” to its rapid transformation through the pandemic to becoming a place people can go for all sorts of content based on their tastes and interests—fashion, music, travel, cooking, cars, art—you name it, TikTok has it. “You might have heard the phrase of ‘tech talk made me buy it.’ It’s a trend we see across the platform. 47% say they bought something because they saw it on TikTok, which is almost half of all users!”

Dan shares some interesting data about their growth, algorithms and the average user—who they are, how much time they spend on the platform, and how they create or participate in trends—which makes Linda smile. “I really love what you said about letting loose, but not letting go. In a time when so many of us are working remotely and have been communicating virtually, we’ve broken through the wall that separated our professional and personal lives. And that’s my takeaway from TikTok, that it is this unifying force that allows you to really tap into those passion points and engage with others.”

MINI CASE STUDY: EEGEE’S AND TIKTOK

Their chat is followed by a roundtable discussion with Gabriel (Gabe) Oropeza, customer engagement manager and social media manager at Eegee’s, and Audrey Arbogast, account supervisor, Red Havas U.S., moderated by Lara Graulich, account fellow, Red Havas Health. Gabe shares his team’s successes with TikTok, being able to think outside the box, partner with creators, leverage trends and have lots of fun, while effectively promoting their brand.

Gabe explains, “TikTok is that new, trendy platform where we can get away with some content that may not work for Instagram or Facebook. Eegee’s is getting to that point where a lot of people are just going to start following us because we post funny or outside-the-box content…even though they’re not from Arizona, or they’ve never heard of Eegee’s before.” With a recent video of Eegee’s interns, his team reached more than four million views overnight. “We were reaching people from the UK and India, and some of these people were commenting, I’ve never been in the U.S. but once I go, I’m gonna try an Eegee’s.”

Audrey agrees, “If you’re ever having a bad day, there’s always something funny going on in their comments section. So that engagement factor, you know, Eegee’s does really lean in and has fun with what they’re doing.” In closing, she adds, “In terms of what success looks like on TikTok, I think there’s a lot of opportunity for brands to experiment. Perhaps a brand that has typically been a little bit more curated in their social media content can have a bit more fun. And there’s a lot of opportunity for organic reach… while the risks to playing around and experimenting are pretty low. So, if you’re not experimenting with the platform already, you definitely should be.”

Give “Red Sky Fuel for Thought” a listen, and subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or your favorite podcasting app. Don’t forget to rate and review to help more people find us!

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A Spotlight on Influencer Marketing in PR Campaigns

Pavlina Micha, Account Assistant in our London office, pens a piece around influencer marketing. Pavlina hails from Greece and has been with the team for six months, following completion of her Master’s degree in PR and Digital Communication. She also completed a dissertation on the topic, and so, in this piece takes us through her viewpoint and research around the emergence of influencers and how social media platforms impact the PR landscape today.

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