Ex-artist manager Francis Coady heads up Havas’ local sports & entertainment division

Havas, the global communications and marketing network, has launched its Havas Sports & Entertainment (HS&E) in Australia.

Operating from Havas’ Sydney office, HS&E will be lead by 20-year entertainment and sporting brand veteran Francis Coady.

Coady co-managed local pop-rock band Thirsty Merc from 2003 to 2008, during the height of the trio’s success. The band’s self-titled debut LP peaked at #15 on the ARIA chart and went Platinum, while follow-up Slideshows hit #4 and reached Gold status. Coady also co-managed children’s entertainment group Hi-5 from 2012 – 2015.

Through his work at brand partnership and marketing agency Merchantwise he worked with global brands including Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, NRL, Football Federation Australia, 20th Century Fox and the ABC. He also ran his own consultancy, The Coady Group, for 13 years, and was also General Manager for the Bondi Short Film Festival.

Coady will report into Havas Media Group CEO Mike Wilson.

HS&E, which focuses on brand strategy, research, branded content and collaborations, has more than 35 offices operating in 20 markets, including the UK, US, Russia and China.

Speaking to TMN, Coady said the Australian arm of HS&E will use consumer data and insights to offer sponsorship activation, branded content creation, sponsorship analytics, social strategy and live brand experiences in the sports and entertainment realms.

“The brand new Havas Sports & Entertainment team in Australia are in a really fortunate position, as we have established global systems, proprietary tools and powerful case studies from our global HSE offices, across more than thirty territories that has really helped to set up our Australian operations,” he said.

Coady told TMN HS&E Australia is working with Universal Music Group, rights holders, global brands and IP rights holders to gain consumer insights. Locally the company’s internal data analytics team uses consumer data to understand audience behavioural patterns, their lives and their intent.

“Building on that insight we then use consumer data to target and reach prospective audiences on behalf of our clients,” Coady said. “Closing the loop we then harness consumer data to measure the effectiveness of ourcampaigns.

“Having been an ex-Artist manager and executive producer across major events I know that music and entertainment is one of the powerful passion points for all of us, irrespective of age,” said Coady.

HS&E Australia is currently working on a major partnership across TV, radio and Facebook with its client LG (for CordZero vacuum cleaners), and the local release of the Ghostbusters film, along with Harvey Norman.

“One of the most important aspects of [the Harvey Norman] partnership was our ability to secure the rights to the iconic Ghostbusters title track by Ray Parker Jnr. HSE worked closely with Sony Pictures, Sony ATV and EMI to lock down the track for the promotional period,” Coady told TMN. “The power of music really is at the core of so many great campaigns, and securing this track has really provided wonderful cut through to consumers.”

More staff announcements for the local HS&E launch are expected in the coming months.