Havas Group's seasonal perspectives: A spring in his step

This post is sponsored by Havas Media Group Singapore.

Change is a principle of life. Like the four seasons, we go through stages of renewal, zeal, comfort, and perseverance over the course of a year. At Havas Media Group Singapore, we’ve evolved with the winds of change only to emerge stronger on every front. In this four-part series, we sit down with a couple of key members who were instrumental in helping to chart our success within the past year’s climate.

A spring in his step

New media landscapes and consumer behaviours beget new media approaches. Off the back of recent wins, newly minted GM of Arena Media, Leroy Lim, takes us through the spring in his step with the need for a renewed vision, reciprocal skill sets, and how bringing an untraditional media approach to a traditional media powerhouse, may prove to be his most exciting season yet. 

As the new kid on Havas Media Group’s block, Arena Media has a distinct positioning and Lim is keen to double down on its challenger brand status.

“As a newer brand, we’re more bold, entrepreneurial and adopt a more nimble approach. We adopt a ‘test, learn, repeat’ attitude and are not afraid to ‘fail fast, learn faster’ as we iterate our successes through doing what’s new or different.”

An industry veteran, what has proved attractive for Lim at Arena Media was the chance to lead a team that is fast becoming a definitive voice in a fragmented landscape.

“Due to the advancement and proliferation in digital and tech, there’s almost no ‘single source’ or ‘go-to’ channel for anything.”

Married to this is his acknowledgement that increasingly greater platform choices and shorter consumer attention spans have fundamentally altered consumer behaviours.

His belief? “Their habits are going to be determined based on ‘what sticks’ (relevance) with them, and what experience (value) they get out of it.”

It’s clear underneath the vagaries of the media world, Lim is keen to pursue the depths of consumer motivations, fuelled by the pressing question – “what is it that matters most to consumers at that specific point in time?”

This is where he believes Arena Media has the answers.

“We are differentiated through our data-driven expertise and digital-first strategies. We use the right combination of data/content/insights to create a consumer experience that will deliver a meaningful business outcome.”

His renewed vision for Arena Media is one of “relevance, performance, transparency, and proprietary data curation”.

Perhaps more impressively, behind these promises lie some of the most promising talent singled out from Havas Media Group to lead the charge, namely two fresh faces: Ellen Dunkley and Fan Chun Pong.

While others deal with data, performance marketing lead Dunkley goes a step further to find out “what’s the deal” within the data. Providing strategic consultation, she unearths insights to inform practical, relevant business solutions to improve overall business performance.

On the other hand, Chun Pong is a source of different data sources. A polyglot in tech lingo, he is able to provide full-funnel views in any client’s business and automate what’s necessary for more seamless business data flows. This means the team is able to analyse effectiveness in real-time, draw real business insights, and develop predictive models for sharper recommendations.

The beauty of the model – from product to personnel – according to Lim, is less about building the biggest, but rather the most adaptable team. Amid this ever-evolving landscape, his dash of Darwinism appears to be well-received.

“Clients have evolved to search for a full-funnel, integrated approach and are keen for smarter, faster business and marketing solutions. This means they’re now more receptive to ‘starting small, testing and learning’ along the way” because if there is anything that’s certain, it’s that “what works today, is certainly no guarantee that it’ll work tomorrow.”

All that said, Lim is under no illusions of the task ahead of him. With the strength of Havas Media Group behind him, he is grateful “to tap onto the existing infrastructure, wealth of knowledge and resources that will allow for information, knowledge and practices to be shared seamlessly”, strictly where permissible.

For now, he will be busy attracting more tech-based and digital/performance clients, building a more robust data and digital architecture that provides greater business-analytic solutions, and standing out as an “independent brand” that lends a different air of gravitas to the wider Havas Media Group.

The last thing he wants, is to be “bogged down with the challenges of ‘setting up’.”

Under his stewardship, Arena Media is primed to usher in springtime for the Havas Media Group.