Summary
Driven by a passion for tech and fuelled by an open, diverse and entrepreneurial culture and strong vision, Harvard has delivered seven years of continual growth since 2011. This culminated in a defining 2017 which saw it grow revenue by 32% and profits by 28%, hitting £1 million profit for the first time.
This growth was achieved by increasing and continually improving the depth of expertise and breadth of service. In 2017, this saw the agency invest heavily in its planning function, hire its first creative director and develop its eight-person creative division.
The strategy has paid off. It’s added 25 new clients to its roster in the past year including established names such as Vodafone Enterprise and SAP; West Coast disruptors Square and Dropbox, and Facebook’s B2B collaboration tool Workplace, all while retaining 95.2% of its revenue.
But success isn’t just about the numbers. A focus on its incredible talent has seen staff retention maintained at 90%, while its NPS score increased to 9 out of 10 employees who would recommend Harvard as a great place to work.
“Harvard is one of the best communications agencies I’ve ever worked with. Not only do they have deep expertise in the technology sector, but they can look at a story objectively and know if it will resonate with our key audiences. They have strong relationships with journalists based on trust, and I know when it comes to our campaigns they will push us out of our comfort zone to deliver the best possible results. They are a true stand-out in the industry, and I confidently recommend them to anyone looking to tell great stories to the outside world”
About Harvard
The tech industry has had a massive 12 months, with a huge shift in the global technology narrative as people start to challenge its motives following huge disruption across virtually every industry. Technology brands are facing unprecedented and interlinking challenges.
Harvard believes for a specialist agency to provide real value and thrive in this market it requires expert knowledge, an intricate understanding of B2B and consumer audiences and full-service capabilities.
Driven by a passion for tech and fuelled by its open, diverse and entrepreneurial culture and strong vision, Harvard has delivered seven years of continuous growth.
Contribution to clients’ businesses
Harvard’s best work is rooted in strong audience insights that deliver true business benefit for clients.
Creative thinking
The foundation of Harvard’s success lies in its vision to be the audience engagement experts for technology globally. This is underpinned by a five-year strategy to continually increase the depth of its expertise and the breadth of its service.
Its integrated work has grown by 74% this year and now accounts for more than a third of its revenues.
Financial performance and stability
The strategy has paid off. The agency has grown revenue 32%, profit by 28% and maintained a 19% margin. It added 25 new clients, equating to £1.3 million in annualised fees, including established names such as Vodafone and SAP, Square and Dropbox.
Its commercial success hasn’t only been driven by an outstanding pitch win rate (89% so far in 2018); but also by its commitment to deliver incredible work to existing clients.
“Harvard has been an invaluable strategic partner to us for more than three years now. Working in collaboration with them we have completely refreshed our communications programme, modernising our approach to ensure our PR is more closely linked to what we sell, and developing thought leadership campaigns that resonate with our audiences across Europe. With each campaign they deliver fresh thinking, innovative ideas, new tactics and consistently better results. They know our brand and our business inside-out”
Staff and community engagement
With a significantly bigger team working across increasingly diverse areas, Harvard has put a renewed focus on its people programme.
Alongside its ‘Harvard Hug’ – free breakfast and an annual European jaunt – we introduced Harvard Health: private medical care through Vitality, free yoga, a charity-fundraising Fitbit challenge and mindfulness training to ensure everyone remains energised.
A rolling appraisal process and individualised training programmes enable people to succeed. Its Future Leaders programme helps its consultants step into leadership positions, while its AD Excellence programme focuses on supporting a level (account directors) often forgotten by PR agencies.
The agency has a 50-50 senior management gender split and mandate that all senior roles have at least one female candidate at recruitment stage. It has kick-started a programme to support working mothers and fathers as they return to work. Some 20% of its workforce would identify as non-white British and it has implemented unconscious bias training and signed up to the Taylor Bennett apprenticeship scheme to support a more diverse workforce.
The result is a happy team. Its retention rate is 90%; nine out of 10 employees would recommend Harvard as a great place to work and 100% of the team understand their personal opportunity within Harvard.
Key initiatives and achievements
A reflection of its desire to work within the B2B technology industry, not just for it, its pro bono work always focuses on organisations that are either using technology for good, or campaigning to solve some of the biggest issues caused by it.
In 2017, Harvard launched UNICEF’s digital skills programme for Syrian refugees, and The WayBack’s experiential VR film that recreated the Queen’s Coronation for people with Alzheimer’s. It is also working with Baroness Joanna Shields’ government-led project, WeProtect. Its aim is to draw attention to a huge societal issue that technology companies can come together to end: online child abuse.
“When we appointed Harvard, we needed an agency who could deliver not only in terms of proactivity and creativity, but with a thoughtful approach and high-level strategy too. Our own brand and story has evolved, so having a team that can communicate that change and land results where and when it matters is an absolute must. I’ve been impressed with the strength of the Harvard team – who demonstrate a hunger for results and a passion for our business – and look forward to the relationship growing stronger in the future”
