This year the 31st annual PM Society Awards, at Park Lane’s Grosvenor House Hotel on 3^rd February was hosted by the hilariously offensive and extremely potty-mouthed Jimmy Carr. The ‘Voice of the Balls’ on the National Lottery programmes, Alan Dedicoat, also boomed across the room in between Jimmy’s gags, adding a surreal twist to the whole event. I’m not usually a potty mouth myself, but as the afternoon developed, it was unavoidable to expel the odd expletive of joy. Because frankly, it was a f***ing great day for Havas Lynx.

Nominees and winners were announced to a massive audience of 950 people. Competition was incredibly high this year as we saw more companies enter than ever before.

But agency side, we were the outright winners, taking home 10 awards, matching VCCP Health’s total last year. We were awarded an amazing 5 Golds, for our work in both HIV and Cancer Awareness, as well as 3 Silver and 2 Bronze awards for Dermatology and Respiratory.

So as Jimmy turned the air blue with his jokes, there was a distinct azure hue across the Lynx tables too due to the amazement of scooping so many gongs.  (“We’re  f*@ing up again!!” Quote, unquote)

Top client this year was our very own ViiV Healthcare scooping 4 Gold Awards and 2 Silvers for their campaign Change the Face of HIV.  There’s nothing better than seeing your client on first name terms with the celebrity Compère Jimmy Carr because they had to go on stage to collect so many awards.

This was the first year entering the PM Society Awards under my watch, and it couldn’t have gone better. We’ve gone through a lot of changes over the last two years, one of the biggest transformations being the hiring of some highly talented creatives to bolster the already strong creative department. At the last count we have over 70 thinkers from all disciplines at our disposal: designers, UX, medical, conceptual, film-makers, art directors, copywriters, digital. Problem solvers, who when connected to the best people deliver amazing insights and creative magic.

Proof in fact that science, strategy, technology and creative can work in harmony. Apple once famously said “Think Different”. But I don’t believe in just thinking different. It’s about hiring different. Making the process different. Believe in different and you produce more insightful work, that truly connects with its audience. And when you connect in a different way you engage in a different way. The fear of the unknown can be daunting, but richly rewarding. For agency, client, outcomes of our audience and their lives.

I’m damn proud of our achievements here at Havas Lynx Towers. Proud of how far we have come by thinking differently. And proud of the many awards we collected simply by going beyond the usual creative expectations and using our creativity for good.

So, because I’m more of a visual person than a wordsmith, I’m going to take a leaf out of Jimmy Carr’s book here and go out on a limb with my choice of words. Havas Lynx is in f***ing great health and I’m f***ing proud of the team.

Onwards and Upwards.

See the Havas Lynx showreel 2017 here.