Havas London senior creatives Daisy Bard and Orla O’Connor have rolled out a weekly crit night at the agency, enabling up-and-coming creative talent to have their work critiqued by senior talent, potentially earning them a coveted work placement.
Nicknamed Critty Critty Bang Bang, the initiative is the brainchild of Bard and O’Connor, who were recently put in charge of placements at Havas.
The pair were spurred into action after perceiving an imbalance – the number of “young creatives looking for their chance in the industry far outweighed the number of placements available”.
“So, we asked ourselves what we could do to help up-and-coming creatives (teams or singles), if not by getting them into the department,” they said.
“We know that everyone has to start at some point, and the easiest way to improve your book is by seeing more senior creatives with your book and getting feedback from them (ie crits).”
This led, a few weeks ago, to them putting out an announcement and a sign-up doc, calling on Havas creatives to offer their support. The call to action immediately drew many responses from senior creatives at the agency.
The crits take place at Havas’ St Pancras offices at 4pm every Thursday (bar the last of the month), coinciding with the drinks and snacks trolley rolling across the agency.
Participants are encouraged to attend in person but are also able to take part online if they are based outside London or have other issues around attending.
Typically, a session comprises three teams or single creatives (a list is available here, where young creatives can also book a session) from within Havas (including Bard and O’Connor). Signatories offering crits include creative partner Nathalie Vincent (formerly Gordon, who championed the initiative on LinkedIn) and executive creative director Dan Cole.
Participants present work from their portfolios before receiving feedback on the idea and craft. It’s not a lengthy process, with “the aim is to make it as hassle-free and direct as humanly possible”, Bard and O'Connor said.
“But we do make a note of the people we’ve seen and the portfolios that have particularly wowed us for a future point when we’re able to get more placements in.”
The sessions, which can be booked here, are full until late May, “so we’d encourage other agencies to do a similar weekly slot”, they added.
“The more crits we’re doing, the more brilliant young creatives we’re meeting, the better it will ultimately be for our industry when they get hired in our departments and come up with culture-making ideas.
“The last time we had a placement team (shout out to Muskaan [Razdan] and Oscar [Frost]) they got hired permanently, and have since created award-winning work for Refugease. This is exactly the kind of energy every agency needs in their creative department.”
Beyond Havas
While the initiative is very much Bard and O’Connor’s brainchild, it has the full support of Havas and the “blessing of Vicki [Maguire, chief creative officer], Dan [Cole] and everyone here”.
But the pair have also extended the concept beyond Havas.
The duo said they have met some young talent who are not from a traditional ad school background and consequently do not have contacts in other agencies. This led them to reach out to other agencies to find creatives willing to critique work.
They have produced a list of contacts on a spreadsheet, whom young talent can contact.
Bard and O’Connor reflected that “back in the day, when we were on placement ourselves”, many industry people have their time and support, but that since Covid many placement schemes have shut down.
