CSR
We are committed to understanding how the rise of the socially conscious citizen is shaping and evolving the relationship between people and their most trusted brands.
Our drive to understand this relationship is driven both by our own desire to be a force for positive change as well as to offer high-level strategic counsel on these issues to our clients.
As a business built on communication, collaboration and creativity, we firmly believe these qualities must also shape our day to day activities within our companies. As such, we are dedicated to engaging our teams’ considerable talents to understand and move forward on issues such as green marketing, cause related marketing, philanthropy and pro-bono activity.
These efforts fall under the banner of what we call improving our levels of “social capital”, wherever we operate or have influence. In this instance, social capital refers to the levels of good will, positive dialogue and connectivity between our companies and the societies in which they operate. The link is simple: if social capital is high, i.e. we have rich dialogue, shared thinking and high levels of trust – then the opportunity for us all to work together to discover, develop and share ideas is greater.
For us, creating high levels of social capital is a necessity as we know that the health of any business is wholly dependent on the health of the communities and societies in which it operates.
A few of our initiatives are detailed in the pages that follow. Admirable though they are, they are not enough. Recognising the unmistakable passion amongst our teams to do more we are committed to doing as much as we can to encourage our teams to generate responsible programmes that benefit our society and environment.
SOME OF OUR CSR INITIATIVES
SOCIAL
Havas Media Spain: Integration of disabled people in the workplace
“Fundación Aura” is a project that offers assistance to people with intellectual disabilities and facilitates their integration into the workplace. It ensures candidates have the relevant skills required for the placement, provides “on-site” training and keeps abreast of progress with regular meetings during the placement.
Havas Media Spain has collaborated with the “Fundación Aura” for several years, developing job opportunities which cater to the individual abilities of each person. We are committed to providing a personal coach for each employee and facilitating their integration within our teams.
ENVIRONMENT
Havas Media France: Recycling with Elise
“Elise” garbage and recycling bins are available at Havas Media France offices. The Elise concept is based on 2 distinct activities: sorting and collecting waste (paper, cardboard etc) and creating jobs for the long-term unemployed, disabled people, young adults without qualifications etc. Havas Media has been collaborating with the Elise initiative since 2007.
COMMUNITY - Social Communications
Havas Media Brazil: Teleton
The Association for Assistance for Disabled Children (AACD) is an association that provides support to disabled people, especially children.
“Teleton” is a TV fundraising event organised jointly by AACD and Brazil’s second largest TV network. It takes place once a year encouraging people to donate money towards new material, new support centres and to enable AACD to keep helping those that cannot afford proper treatment.
Media Contacts and Z+ were the advertising agencies for AACD and “Teleton” 2009/2010, developing cross media campaigns mobilising people to the cause.
COMMUNITY - Pro Bono
Havas Media Spain: “El Mundo al Revés”
Launched in October 2009, “El Mundo al Réves” (the world turned upside down) is an initiative developed by the employees of Havas Group in Spain, including Havas Media and Euro RSCG. It involves Havas working alongside a variety of NGOs on a voluntary basis, helping improve their communication strategies for both individual projects and long-term cooperation.
Anyone interested in the initiative can join an existing team or introduce another NGO. The consulting work is carried out free of charge for the associations and employees are not paid for their time. Teams are required to meet in their free time in order to respect the voluntary rules.
The Havas group now has more than 150 voluntary employees actively working on 15 projects across various sectors such as biodiversity, children’s education, disabled people, third world countries and drug addiction.
COMMUNITY - Charity and Voluntary Actions
Havas Media Colombia: Supporting “Fundación Niños de los Andes”
The Fundación Niños de los Andes is a non-profit organisation working for the protection and rehabilitation of vulnerable children living on the streets. It offers real solutions to improve the quality of life for these children and help their physical, mental, spiritual and social development.
Havas Media Colombia supports Fundación Niños de los Andes through its “Donate your printer cartridges” campaign. The foundation sells the cartridges and the money collected is reinvested in nutrition and educational programmes for the children they take care of.