Tell us a bit about yourself, what do you do?
I am vice president, director of strategy at Health4Brands, which is part of the Havas Health & You global network. I joined this thriving team, located on Madison Avenue in New York, in September 2018.
Utilizing my extensive global experience in marketing and advertising in Europe, Asia and North America, my role at Health4Brands is to build commercial and communication strategies to drive the success of our clients’ brands, across countries and audiences.
In the field of health advertising, it is a pure joy to create brands that can have a positive impact on people’s lives and drive change for the better.
During my private time, I provide strategic counsel for my brother’s growing business ‘Sentinelle Security Services,’ and I am learning to ride my motorcycle.
What did you do before your current role and what led you to where you are now?
Prior to Havas Health4Brands, I was associate director of strategic planning at McCann Health New Jersey, acting as the global strategy lead for GSK’s respiratory franchise across the U.S., EU and Japan.
In 2014, I joined McCann Health Tokyo for three years, as senior strategic planner, working with Eli Lilly, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson and Shiseido. My role was to grow the international strategic offering, foster collaboration with our China offices and be the cultural bridge between the East and West. Living in Asia was a life-defining experience, where digital, technological innovations and traditions seamlessly integrated into everyday life.
In 2011, I met my mentor, who offered me the opportunity to transition from client services to strategic planning and joined McCann Health London as strategic lead for AstraZeneca, Pfizer Viagra, Nestlé and Diet Coke.
Prior to this, I joined M&C Saatchi in 2008 as account director, where I worked with world-renowned creatives who helped me discover my passion for advertising and its art form.
How would you define the role of a strategist in your agency?
I feel that my role is straightforward; I am a strategic thinker, a problem solver and art lover. More than that, at Havas Health & You we pride ourselves in being ‘fearless’ by striving to always push further. This state of mind is what allowed us to become one of the world’s premiere healthcare and wellness communications agencies.
Brian Robinson, global chief strategy officer at Havas Health & You, is driving the shift toward a new commercial model. He is also building a team of international strategy experts with diverse skill sets, from commercial strategy, consumer advertising, public health and social sciences.
At Havas, our strategists are the advocate for the brand by being an essential contributor to the client and agency teams. We build connections with the people we work with to understand their needs and devise a successful plan forward. We share an insatiable drive for original thinking, allowing us to find an unique opportunity for the brand, leading to disruptive creative and activation.
How have you seen the role of a strategist been evolving since you first began?
Over the 13 years in my career, the influence of strategic planning has grown both within agencies and companies. This has led to a distillation of the discipline into specialties such as brand, UX, data, experiential and social impact. The expansion of the strategic planning field creates opportunities to answer to individual brands’ and clients’ needs. But it can also create confusion or redundancies if it is not unified under one clear strategic vision and lead.
Looking specifically at healthcare, we are seeing a positive transformation toward patient-centricity and consumerization as people, especially younger generations, want to be involved in their health decision-making and demand providers who play a meaningful role in their lives. This change is demanding big pharma to reinvent its business models and engagement strategies.
In your opinion, what are the greatest barriers an aspiring planner/strategist encounters when trying to start their career?
With a growing demand for strategists across industries comes growing competition between talents. Candidates who are pro-active in researching the company and its industry’s challenges and thinking of how to present their skills in a unique way will set themselves apart.
With the diversification of strategic roles, it can be difficult for candidates to know where to start —company or agency side, consumer or specialist industries, etc. The key is to start. Candidates need to build experience in the strategic approach and solve as many marketing problems as possible. Companies are looking for talents with a solid and diverse portfolio of skills.
Another key barrier is how to become a trusted advisor to key stakeholders and leading big-picture initiatives. Aspiring strategists need to develop a strong understanding of their industry’s issues, to build confidence in their strategic point of view, sell-in their ideas and design a competitive path for growth. It’s a good idea to build a team of influencers who will be their best critics and motivators.
In your time, what have you noticed are the key skills and traits that separate great strategists from the mediocre?
In my time, I have seen the skills and traits that separate ‘great’ strategists from ‘good’ ones. This is something I feel passionate about and can be understood through a simple value system—courage, commitment and ownership—building the courage to break away from the familiar, being committed to finding the way forward for the brand, client or team; and having the strength to own successes and failures.
How do you avoid getting stuck in a cultural bubble and stay informed on the needs and desires of everyday consumers?
I avoided getting stuck in a cultural bubble by deciding to live and work abroad from the beginning of my career.
I am originally from France. I spent seven years in the U.K., where I started my advertising career, then moved to Japan for three years, where I met my partner in China. I finally moved to New York.
By becoming a local resident within each country, I wanted to personally experience the cultural unifiers and tensions, which has given me a richer perspective on life. I am thankful for the opportunities and great friendships I’ve made over the years.