After 13 years at PHD, Mitchell Long has joined Havas Media as chief strategy officer.
Virginia Hyland, CEO of Havas Media Network, said Long is a “rare talent”, and she took her time picking the right person for “this important role.” Nick Kavanagh left the position last June to join Dentsu’s iProspect.
Long told Mediaweek his focus will include “investing time to really deeply think through how we best rebuild the strategy and planning products alongside the broader Havas leadership team.”
This includes “laying down the right processes, principles and training that set a new standard and ensure consistency of that quality across the board,” he said.
Long joined PHD as an intern – originally studying journalism – rising through the ranks and working across investment and planning, before finding his stride in strategy.
In 2015, he was appointed strategy director, and in 2019 was appointed as head of strategy, the youngest-ever head of strategy in the history of PHD’s global network, according to the agency. He worked on clients including Unilever, Volkswagen, PepsiCo, Google, and Virgin Australia.
At Havas, Long will lead the strategic direction for Havas Media and Havas PLAY.
“He will also play a pivotal role working alongside the Havas Village agencies to support our continued global focus creating a Converged operating system and data home platform for clients from across our Havas Village,” Hyland said.
Long said the Village model is “uniquely positioned to bridge the growing divide between breadth and depth.”
“As marketing becomes increasingly fragmented, clients are torn between a need for specialisms and synergy,” he added. “They need sophisticated expertise that connect to be greater than the sum of their parts.”
Just last week, Havas Media acquired indie agency Hotglue and promoted Alastair Baker to chief planning officer.
“With recent significant business growth via wins and independent agency acquisitions for the Havas Media Network, it is a particularly exciting time for Mitch to join the team,” Hyland added.
“Marketers challenge to simplify the complicated has never been greater particularly when budgets are tight, and their teams are stretched. They desire to work with partners who can unpack their problems and deliver an integrated seamless working model to deliver new growth areas. Mitch will play a key role in leaning into our clients business in a true partnership extension.”
Long noted that AI will continue to be a major disruptor, which means “from a strategy perspective, it’s critical we are leveraging the latest in AI, both to short-circuit much of the traditional analytical leg-work, and more significantly to act as a catalyst for our people to think more expansively and creatively on a client’s business.”
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Top image: Hyland and Long