It’s Lilian Sor’s First Day at Howatson+Co. She Promises To Set A High Bar

​As she starts as chief strategy officer at Howatson+Co today, Lilian Sor has vowed to set the bar high.

The strategist told LBB she and CCO Gavin Chimes have found a mutual belief in “radical candour”.

“Speed is of the essence, not just for the agency, but for clients, right? And we both know that you can't move fast unless you're really honest with each other, and that's what's going to drive this partnership forward more than anything else – good, honest, true conversations about the work, and making sure we don’t just meet the bar, but exceed it for everything we do.”

It’s not her first time working with Gavin -- the pair were colleagues at Clemenger Group, where they both worked across CHEP and Clemenger, alongside the indie’s founder and former CHEP CEO, Chris Howatson.

“Gavin and I have got to set the bar at the level where we think it needs to be,” she added. “Between us, we will ensure that our teams flourish in the right conditions to thrive.

“This is a defining time for both of us. The CSO, CCO combination has always been really special. It sits at the core of every client problem and every piece of work that goes out to the world. We do everything to protect our relationship, because it's what's going to make the difference between great work and amazing work.”

The indie agency hired Lilian in April, following the departure of Dom Hickey, as revealed by LBB, and CHEP’s merger with Clemenger. Gavin expressed admiration for Dom, and told LBB he is excited to begin a new partnership with Lilian.

“We had a fantastic run with Dom, she's a wonderful human,” he said. “After a few years of really exceptional growth, the prospect of working with Lil for the next chapter is incredibly exciting.

“Lil's worked at some of the best agencies in the world, across different regions and markets, across some of the biggest brands. She really is a compendium of brand knowledge. On top of that, she's just a lovely, collaborative human.”

In addition to her time at Clemenger Group, Lilian has led planning teams at AMV BBDO in London, Grey London, Host and CX Lavender. During her tenure at CHEP, the agency became the Effies’ Effective Agency of the Year.

“What you see at Howatson+Co is that magical combination of speed, modernity, craft, passion, intelligence, and most of all, energy,” she said. “ When I worked at Grey in London, I had the honour of working briefly with Nils Leonard, who would say ‘energy beats everything’, and that's still as true today as it is in any other year or any other country.

“That’s what you feel when you come to Howatson+Co -- there's an energy that just means you feel as though anything is possible, and it's very contagious.”Gavin added the pair’s relationship will be “incredibly important” for driving effectiveness and growth.

“We always strive to create work that drives effectiveness and growth for our clients, and the best way to do that is through creating work with distinctive ideas, brilliant craft, and exceptional orchestration. You can't achieve effectiveness without all parts, and putting the clients first.”

At the core of everything, Lilian said, is making sure the clients’ need to succeed is put front and centre, above egos or trends.

“Let's not forget, we're in the service industry. That's what true effectiveness is, and that's what great work is.

“Effectiveness shouldn't be an argument about opposing ends of the scale… [creativity] and strategy both have to exist for clients and for agencies to be successful.

“I think the reason I've come here is because what I can see in all of the work they do is that it touches everything from big brand ideas to design work for Triple J to activation work. It's just so broad.

“The hope for Gavin and I is to maintain the standard and to help our clients always win, because clients come front and centre to make sure we're delivering the right shape work for the prime problem at hand.

“We're here to make work that works.”

Lilian will also work closely with chief media officer Sasha Smith, and chief experience officer Nicole Flinton Ferraro. Gavin said he knows Lilian will ultimately make the work better.

“How can she not? She's worked at so many great places across so many great brands, great people. You just sit with her in a room for five minutes, and you can feel her infectious energy. There's an alignment of passion, energy, smarts and taste that I'm incredibly excited about.”