SYDNEY — Three former Havas senior leaders — Laura Aldington, Simone Gupta and Jon Austin —  have launched a new independent agency, Supermassive.

In announcing the launch, the trio said Supermassive was created with “the ambition to set a new benchmark in effective non-traditional advertising and earned media.”

“Supermassive’s mission is to partner with brands who share our belief that to be effective, they need to entertain more than interrupt; lean into popular culture and not compete with it; outsmart when they can’t outspend, and make people want things by making things they actually want,” Aldington said. “We combine disciplined brand strategy with deep earned expertise, and put it in the hands of a creative leader with an exceptional track record in this space.”

Aldington, Gupta and Austin bring to Supermassive experience from many years of senior roles at holding group agencies.

Aldington and Gupta, both of whom have spent more than two decades in the industry, previously shared CEO responsibility for the Havas Creative Group across Host/Havas, h/commerce, Red Havas, One Green Bean, and Organic, where they together focused on significant people policy reform including domestic and family violence, gender affirmation, parental leave, pregnancy, infertility and miscarriage leave.

Austin, meantime, served as executive creative director of Host/Havas and Host, and oversaw creative output across One Green Bean and Red Havas.

Austin said the agency means to exist in the same world as its  audience, in ways they “love,” rather than interrupting their daily life.

“That’s not to say paid media doesn’t play a hugely important role in what we do, but we’re setting out to augment and amplify what goes into those channels so that our ideas can travel beyond their paid reach,” Austin said.

Gupta said the agency brings an “inclusive and kind” culture that remains updated with society.

“Our black book is bursting with world class talent, creators and collaborators across music, tech, gaming, sport and entertainment, keeping us in lockstep with culture,” Gupta said. “We’re bringing all of this knowledge together to create a fresh operating model that builds bespoke teams around what a client needs, rather than serving them what we have.”