NEW YORK — Red Havas Group has launched a global influencer marketing practice, Sway, to help brands use best practice in building long-term relationships with influencers.

Sway will work alongside the agency network’s PR, social and experiential marketing teams to develop creative social-first marketing campaigns with influencers that deliver business impact, with ‘centres of excellence’ in Australia, Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Sway’s offer includes: a best practice framework, from identification to measurement; a roadmap with a focus on long-term relationships; defined roles for all social media platforms; advice and reputation management for new and emerging technologies and trend; and campaign evaluation.

Red Havas UK CEO Rachael Sansom (pictured) said: “We are excited to launch Sway as our clients are looking for long-term relationships with Influencers that also span multiple markets. Sway allows us to use the technical capability of the Red Havas network coupled with local insight to ensure we are delivering best-in-class, influencer campaigns to our clients on a local and global level.”

James Wright, global CEO of the Red Havas Group and global chairman of the Havas PR Global Collective, said the practice had been developed in recognition of influencer marketing’s growing importance as a performance channel for brands.

“More brands than ever before are adapting their broader strategy and communications to include significant influencer activity. Some even put influencer marketing front and centre, recognizing them as a full-funnel marketing channel. It’s no longer about just a paid transaction. Brands are building long-term relationships with influencers who are advocating their messages and experience.”

Wright added: “Across the Red Havas Group we are working with more than 100 brands and organizations on influencer activity, so it's a natural next step to formalize and focus on this as a global practice.”

Earlier this year, Red Havas Group launched Peaks, a multichannel executive branding service designed to help C-suite executives develop a personal brand. Other specialist global offerings include Red Impact, which focuses on ESG and sustainability communications; Red Havas Health, a specialized offering focused on health and wellness; and Red Connect, a B2B content marketing practice.

The Red Havas Group has 25 offices across 14 markets and was launched in 2019 as the global PR arm of Havas. It uses a “merged media” model that covers traditional and digital publishing, content, social media and data.