Havas has just made its fourth acquisition of the year by investing in the particularly dynamic British creative agency Uncommon Creative Studio. This transaction (Havas has acquired 51% of the share capital and its founders retain the rest) is above all Havas’ biggest acquisition in the creative sector.
Founded in September 2017 by Natalie Graeme, Lucy Jameson and Nils Leonard, Uncommon Creative Studio is the UK’s most awarded creative agency. Having notably been named Campaign’s Creative Agency of the Year twice [in 2021 and 2019], it was awarded International Agency of the Year by Ad Age and was the only UK studio to be named in Fast Company’s Top 10 Advertising Companies in the World. Most recently, it won its first Grand Prix at Cannes Lions, the international festival of creativity, for an outdoor campaign for British Airways.
Despite its young age, Uncommon has clients from all sectors, both locally and globally, including British Airways, Nike Jordan, ITV, WWF, B&Q, H&M and Formula E, and is growing fast. Its aim is to “build brands that people in the real world actually wish existed” and it places creativity at the heart of everything it does, like Havas, which is particularly committed to creativity and building meaningful brands.
The studio recently produced its first feature documentary, ‘This Much I Know To Be True’ on Nick Cave and Warren Ellis with renowned director Andrew Dominik. Itpremiered at Berlinale and SXSW and achieved critical acclaim including The Guardian’s Film of the Week as well as being listed in NME’s top films of the year.
Uncommon and its team of 160 experts will strengthen Havas’ presence in the UK and also in the US through Uncommon’s already strong portfolio of clients. The studio will continue to grow globally, share Havas best practice and collaborate with the entities of Vivendi (Havas’ parent company), a world leader in content, media, entertainment and communications.
“Uncommon Creative Studio will bring new energy, as well as new audiences, to the Havas creative network, which is already at the forefront of creativity. Uncommon has created a new space and a new energy in the industry. It’s the kind of agency that only comes along once in a decade, and its arrival in the Havas family opens exciting opportunities for us. We share the same vision: on every project, Uncommon Creative Studio and Havas remind the world that creativity is, and always has been, what makes the difference,” says Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO of Havas, and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vivendi.
