Laura Aldington, Simone Gupta and Jon Austin combine to form Supermassive agency
Laura Aldington, the former CEO of Host/Havas is joining forces with former Havas PR CEO Simone Gupta and former ECD of Host/Havas Jon Austin to form the new agency Supermassive.
Supermassive is described as an independent agency with an ambition to set a new benchmark in effective non-traditional advertising and earned media.
(L-R) Aldington, Gupta and Austin
Gupta and Aldington previously shared CEO responsibility for the Havas Creative Group across Host/Havas, h/commerce, Red Havas and One Green Bean, while Austin also oversaw creative output across One Green Bean and Red Havas.
Speaking on the launch of the new agency, Aldington said, “A study by the World Advertising Research Centre (WARC) of the 100 most effective campaigns concluded that ‘the most effective ads, all over the world, no longer look like ads.
“The top campaigns frequently used fame-building tactics, often built on a highly PR-able idea, with media in support; sociability, spin, salience and spectacle.
“Supermassive’s mission is to partner with brands who share our belief that to be effective, they need to entertain more than interrupt; lean into popular culture and not compete with it; outsmart when they can’t outspend, and make people want things by making things they actually want.
“We combine disciplined brand strategy with deep earned expertise, and put it in the hands of a creative leader with an exceptional track record in this space.”
Supermassive’s three founders have been recognised at the Effies, Cannes, D&AD, LIAs, Clios, One Show and Spikes, and more.
Aldington’s star rose in the Australian market when she joined Host Sydney in 2007 as head of account management.
In 2010 she took on the same role at Anomaly New York before returning to Australia to become managing director of Host in January 2013. A position which she held until 2017 when she was promoted to CEO. The agency soon became Host/Havas.
Before her time leading Havas PR, Gupta was the CEO of One Green Bean and had also spent time at agencies including Ogilvy and Edelman in London.
Austin, meanwhile, joined Host Sydney in 2013 as associate creative director and remained there until May this year, by which time he had risen to the position of executive creative director.
On the new business, Gupta said, “We’ve worked in agencies that broke convention, businesses with agility and imagination like Host, One Green Bean and Anomaly NYC, and we have massive respect for the indie agency scene in Australia.
“We’re bringing all of this knowledge together to create a fresh operating model that builds bespoke teams around what a client needs, rather than serving them what we have.”
The business is up and running now and the founders can be contacted on hello@supermassivestudio.com.
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