Chris Howatson on capping growth at 200 staff, never selling, and advertising to a more inclusive Australia
Two years after launching, founder and CEO of Howatson+Company, Chris Howatson speaks with Mumbrella’s Calum Jaspan about setting limits on the agency’s growth, why high performance doesn’t always mean lots of work, never being for sale, and retiring in his sixties.
Howatson+Company is two years old, but for many in the local advertising industry, it already feels like part of the furniture.
Maybe that is because a lot has happened since then for the agency that now boasts a client list featuring Allianz, GMHBA, Belong, Maurice Blackburn, The Guardian, PetBarn, Matilda Bay, TK Maxx and Doordash amongst others, with 115 staff joining across this time.
This kind of growth is rapid, but it’s not sustainable. In fact, Howatson tells Mumbrella the agency already has a cap on its growth. Two offices and 200 people. And the former is already ticked off.
“We won’t take on a pitch if we don’t have the capacity to take it on, if people have to do late nights or weekends, we just won’t do it. All of that stuff has to happen within the workday.”
The fact that this is a leadership point in advertising says it all about the industry. Big props to Chris, love the discipline.