Havas Chicago has named Larry Gies its new Chief Strategy Officer, bringing the longtime Energy BBDO strategist back into the Havas network and onto the agency’s senior leadership team.
Gies joins Havas Chicago after 17 years at Energy BBDO, where he helped build and modernize the agency’s strategy discipline and contributed to some of its most recognized work.
Over a career spanning more than three decades, Gies has worked across brands including Nike, Miller Lite, Extra Gum, Old Forester and Champion.
His earlier career included work on the strategy behind Nike’s “Just Do It” platform and Miller Lite’s role in the U.S. “Beer Wars.” At Energy BBDO, he and his team helped shape work including Extra Gum’s “Sarah and Juan” film and the pandemic-era “For When It’s Time” campaign, along with the Old Forester Kentucky Turtle Derby and Champion Reverse Weave campaigns.
Under his strategic leadership, Energy BBDO earned more than 100 strategy and effectiveness honors, including recognition from the Effies, Cannes Lions for Effectiveness, Jay Chiat Awards, APG Awards and WARC.
“The best strategy starts with what people care about and gives creative teams the freedom to make something that people actually want to engage with,” Gies said.
He said Havas Chicago’s mix of traditional brand-building discipline and cultural agility was central to the move. “There’s a real entrepreneurial spirit here, and I’m excited to be part of what the team is building,” he said.
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In his new role, Gies will work alongside Havas Chicago President Kat Ott and Chief Creative Officer Frank Dattalo, helping shape strategic direction across the agency while also expanding capabilities and developing talent.
The appointment also reunites Gies with Dattalo, who previously worked with him at Energy BBDO.
“Larry has the rare ability to connect the long-term thinking required to build enduring brands with an instinct for what matters to people right now,” Dattalo said.
Dattalo pointed to their earlier work together on Orbit and 5 Gum, including the “Dirty Mouth” and “Stimulate Your Senses” campaigns, as examples of Gies’ ability to connect strategy with culture.
“He truly embodies our ‘hi-low’ philosophy, understanding that strategy today has to be both rigorous and radically connected to culture,” Dattalo said.
For Gies, the move also carries a full-circle element.
He began his career in Chicago at Tatham Euro RSCG, then part of the Havas network, working on Procter & Gamble before moving through J. Walter Thompson, Wieden + Kennedy, TBWA\Chiat\Day and Y&R Chicago before joining Energy BBDO.
Now, after nearly two decades away, he returns to Havas at a moment when the agency is looking to sharpen both its strategic and cultural edge.
