Host/Havas appoints managing director to head up CX capabilities
Host/Havas has selected experience digital and customer experience leader Charles Rallings to take on the newly created role of managing director of Host/Havas CX as the agency expands its CX capabilities in response to client demand.
With a career spanning more than 20 years across digital technologies, channels and customer experience platforms, Rallings joins the agency from 303 MullenLowe, where he spent the past five years leading the CX offering as director of digital and customer experience. Previously, he has spent five years as MD of Tribal DDB and three as DDB Group’s chief operating officer.
L-R: Laura Aldington and Charles Rallings
Throughout his career, Rallings has worked across a number of industry sectors including telco, FMCG, automotive, retail, financial services, tourism, and pharma, and with leading brands including Telstra, McDonald’s, Volkswagen, Tourism Australia, Audi, Medtronic and HBF.
The move comes as new and existing clients are increasingly looking to leverage their investments in digital, data and martech solutions to drive customer experience.
In the new role, Rallings will lead the dedicated Host/Havas CX team in Australia and leverage the strength and experience of the global Havas CX network to provide local clients with access to some of the world’s best CX talent.
Host/Havas CX clients in Australia will also gain access to Havas Group’s proprietary barometer for measuring and managing customer experience, The X index.
“Charles’ deep expertise in CX and his proven capability consulting to solve business problems and leverage digital technology to drive growth makes him an invaluable asset for our business and our clients,” Host/Havas CEO Laura Aldington said.
“We’re thrilled to have Charles on board as we take our offering to the next level to deliver on our clients’ growing CX ambitions.”
Rallings welcomed the opportunity to lead the local-global CX offering for an evolving experience landscape. “World-class customer experience is the new battleground for brand success in a world where 75% of brands could disappear overnight and most people wouldn’t notice or care,” he said.
“The opportunity for Host/Havas CX as a CX specialist within a creative agency village is to harness the investments made by brands in martech stacks, creating experiences and touchpoints for customers that truly deliver on a brand’s promise, in a way that’s relevant to them.
“The second great opportunity is in utilising data to inform those experiences. While it’s not that long ago we were all taking about ‘big data’, the journey has moved on. Most can now manage their data in more digestible ways. The challenge has become using the data to deliver business insights for more dynamic decision making and that’s what we are focusing on.”
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