David Robert Jones (born 9 November 1966) is a former CEO of
Havas
Havas SA is a French multinational advertising and public relations company, headquartered in Paris, France. It operates in more than 100 countries and is one of the largest advertising and communications groups in the world. Havas consists of ...
and
Havas Worldwide (formerly known as
Euro RSCG Worldwide), cofounder of global youth forum One Young World and founder of You & Mr Jones. He is author of ''Who Cares Wins: Why Good Business Is Better Business''
(Pearson/FT Publishing, November 2011) and the creator of the "Social Business Idea".
Career
David Jones was born and educated in Northern England and holds business degrees from
Fachhochschule Reutlingen and
Middlesex Business School. Fluent in German, French and English, he began his career as an account executive at
BDH Manchester BDH is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to:
*The AMEX code for ML BRDBND HLDR12/40 (a broadband diversification instrument).
*The National Rail station code for Bedhampton railway station, Havant, England
* Beta-hydroxyDeHydrogenase, enzy ...
(now
TBWA) before moving to
JWT in Paris and then
Lowe Europe
Lowe may refer to:
People
* Lowe (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Liu, a Chinese surname sometimes romanized as Lowe
Places
* Division of Lowe, an Australian federal government electoral division
* Lowe, Delaw ...
. Returning to London, he became the youngest board member at
AMV BBDO.
Jones' career with Havas began in 1998, when he was appointed CEO of Euro RSCG Australia at age 32. After launching the network's first digital agency, he became president of global brands for Euro RSCG Worldwide and served as global brand director on
Reckitt Benckiser
Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trading as Reckitt, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the m ...
. In 2004 he was promoted to CEO of Euro RSCG New York and in 2005 he succeeded Jim Heekin as CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide and also taking on duties as directeur general of Havas. In 2006 Euro RSCG became the first agency to be named Global Agency of the Year by both
Advertising Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mu ...
and
Campaign
Campaign or The Campaign may refer to:
Types of campaigns
* Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed
* Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme
* B ...
in the same year. In 2009, Jones added the title of CEO of Havas Worldwide, running all the creative, marketing and design companies throughout the Havas network of 300+ offices.
From 2007–2010, Jones led the Euro RSCG team advising
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
and the UK
Conservative Party.
In 2011, Jones expanded his position to encompass the entire Havas network, including
Havas Media
Havas Media Group is the media division of the global marketing and communications group Havas. It incorporates the media assets of Havas, which includes predominantly entities which were formerly known as Media Planning Group (MPG). MPG was cre ...
, and was named CEO of Havas.
In 2014 Jones left Havas and one year later he raised $350m and launched a new 'brandtech' group under the name "You & Mr. Jones".
Change leadership
David Jones is creator of the "Social Business Idea"—a principle and practice that "operates at the intersection of social responsibility and social media" and "aligns the goals of doing well and doing good."
He cites the
Dulux Let's Colour Project
Dulux is an internationally available brand of architectural paint originated from the United Kingdom. The brand name Dulux has been used by both Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) and DuPont since 1931 and was one of the first alkyd-based ...
as an example. Social Business Ideas are a focus of Jones' book, ''Who Cares Wins: Why Good Business Is Better Business'', published by Pearson/FT Publishing in 2011.
At
Mashable
Mashable is a digital media platform, news website and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005.
History
Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2005. Early iterations of the site were ...
Connect 2011 and other forums, Jones has advocated using the communication skills of the advertising industry to drive social change. He told
Adweek
''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cove ...
"I passionately believe that what our industry actually excels at is using our creativity to change people's behavior. Given the state of the world, I believe that we in the creative industries not only have an opportunity but an obligation to use that talent and our creativity to change people's behavior around some of the bigger issues facing the world."
In 2009, Jones co-founded youth forum One Young World, called "arguably the most forward-looking and comprehensive piece of corporate social responsibility ever attempted" by
Marketing Week
''Marketing Week'' is a website focused on the marketing industry, based in London, that grew out of what was a weekly, and latterly monthly, print magazine.
History and profile
''Marketing Week'' was launched in March 1978. Its co-founders were ...
. In 2011, Jones' work with One Young World was recognised by the
Clinton Global Initiative.
In advance of the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...
in Copenhagen in 2009, Jones was asked by former U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the found ...
to create a campaign to communicate the urgent need for action. Jones drove the creation of the TckTckTck Campaign for Climate Justice, an open source campaign that recruited more than 17 million "climate allies" to the cause. In 2010 TckTckTck was short-listed for a
Webby Award
The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories includ ...
for world's best advocacy campaign, and listed by
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
as one of the Top 50 climate tweeters in the world.
Social Business Idea
In ''Who Cares Wins'', Jones defines the Social Business Idea as the overlap between what a company is good at ("a genuine and credible role for the brand or business"), and what consumers or customers are looking for ("real issues that consumers care about"). He lists as examples
M·A·C
MAC Cosmetics, stylized as M·A·C, is a Canadian cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto, Canada in 1984 by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The company is headquartered in New York City after becoming a subsidiary of Estée Lauder Companies i ...
's Viva Glam cosmetics partnering with
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
to raise money and awareness for HIV;
Levi's
Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...
Water
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...
as a Young Global Leader (2008)
Named as number two of two ad industry CEOs of the decade by readers of ''Adweek'' (2010)
Nominated by ''CR Magazine'' as Responsible CEO of the Year (2011)
Founding curator,
.