Media's Impact on Humans, as demonstrated by Havas
In the rapidly evolving world of media and advertising, a new approach is gaining traction—Human Experience (HX). The goal of HX is to re-humanize the relationship between brands and people by focusing on real human needs, emotions, and experiences rather than treating audiences as mere data points or personas.
Criticism that data and automation have dehumanized marketing has led to the development of HX. The philosophy promotes putting the human experience back into media by understanding real people, their underlying needs, and how media can serve those needs through empathy and usefulness.
Brands using HX design media interactions that feel more human, engaging, and emotionally resonant, combining both entertainment and utility. It's not about brands trying to be human themselves but about showing empathy and understanding toward consumers by delivering content that resonates on a human level.
HX is a strategic reset prioritizing empathy, usefulness, and entertainment to build stronger, more authentic connections between brands and their audiences. This approach addresses industry challenges of producing meaningful communication in an era overwhelmed by data and ad automation, steering focus back to improving people’s experiences rather than maximizing reach alone.
In broader business and technology contexts relevant to media, HX also reflects a holistic understanding that connects customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX), and overall human ecosystems to foster genuine engagement and loyalty beyond transactional interactions. This involves designing experiences that anticipate and meet human emotional as well as functional needs, using technology more considerately and strategically.
Examples of brands adopting the HX approach include Ocado, which focused on dramatizing the reliability of its service and using high-attention channels like cinema and podcasts to deliver a breadth of human experience. The human experience approach can increase attachment scores, with people saying they'd miss the brand if it wasn't in their life.
Patrick Fagan, a behavioral scientist, emphasizes that trust is generational and social, with patterns across decades, and that talking about untrustworthiness can lead to people feeling they can't trust anything. The human experience approach emphasizes asking questions about usefulness, entertainment, and improving people's lives, rather than just focusing on reaching people.
HX identifies five fundamental human levers: growth, esteem, love, distraction, and certainty, which shape brand and media strategy. Havas Media's philosophy, HX, focuses on providing entertaining and useful media that serves people's underlying needs.
By rethinking human experience and becoming a human experience brand, Havas Media aims to build effectiveness across both brand and business, aiming to aid personal development, foster genuine, authentic fandoms and communities, and create enriching, entertaining experiences through media. This approach is set to reshape the media and advertising industry, re-humanizing relationships and creating more meaningful connections between brands and people.
[1] Havas Media. (2021). Human Experience Report. [Online]. Available: https://www.havasmedia.com/global/content/dam/havas-media/documents/reports/2021/havas-media-human-experience-report-2021.pdf
[3] Havas Group. (2020). Meaningful Brands 2020 Report. [Online]. Available: https://www.meaningfulbrands.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/MB2020_Report_Global_ENG_Web.pdf
[5] Havas Media. (2021). Human Experience Report. [Online]. Available: https://www.havasmedia.com/global/content/dam/havas-media/documents/reports/2021/havas-media-human-experience-report-2021.pdf
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