Havas London Names Clare Phayer Head of Strategy

​Havas London has promoted strategy partner Clare Phayer to head of strategy after more than a decade with the creative agency. In this new role, she assumes responsibility for the leadership and day-to-day running of the department and will join the agency’s senior leadership team. She reports into CEO Holly Ripper.

Clare – a multi-award-winning strategist with three IPA Effectiveness Awards, as well as Effie, WARC and Marketing Society Awards, to her name – joined pioneering digital agency Work Club in 2013, a year before its acquisition by Havas and subsequent integration into Havas London.

Over the following 12 years, she has worked on and led strategy for some of the agency’s largest accounts, including Heathrow (and its beloved Christmas bears, putting the agency on the map), Molson Coors, Reckitt (including Durex, Vanish and Optrex), The Open University, the Department for Education and Ella’s Kitchen. She has earned a particular reputation for purposeful work on societal and behavioural change briefs, such as recruiting a new generation of teachers for DfE through its ongoing ‘Every Lesson Shapes a Life’ platform and increasing the number of blood and organ donors for NHS Blood and Transplant with its ‘Giving Types’ campaign.

Most recently, she has worked on new Asahi Super Dry global brand platform and 360° campaign ‘Seek What is Unique’, which launched in the UK and Australia in October and will be rolled out globally throughout 2026. Havas was appointed Asahi Super Dry’s global creative agency (outside of Japan) in December 2024.

Clare began her career at Tribal DDB, which she joined in 2010 as digital strategist – working closely with UX, social and data departments on brands including Guinness, Volkswagen, Gü, John Lewis and O2.

Clare Phayer says, “I love this agency – the people, our clients, Havas’ can-do, entrepreneurial spirit – so the opportunity to take a leadership role within it is incredibly exciting. This department is full of brilliant strategic talent and a real diversity of thinking at every level, which I don’t take for granted. Our unique culture of collaboration means strategists and creatives continuously challenge and inspire each other to deliver work that’s as insightful as it is impactful. So, as well as being the department’s biggest cheerleader within the wider agency, I am committed to nurturing an open culture in which every individual can thrive and create work that excites them.”

Holly Ripper, CEO, Havas London says, “I’m thrilled for Clare as she steps up to become Head of Strategy. Immensely popular with our people, she knows the department and our clients’ businesses like the back of her hand and is totally committed to ensuring the effectiveness of creativity in all its guises. I’m looking forward to partnering with her and the brilliant talent within the department to help shape an exciting new chapter for Havas London.”

Clare steps up following the departure of CSO Matt Springate, who returns to TBWA – the agency at which he previously spent seven years.

Her promotion marks the third senior appointment for Havas London in recent months. In July, James Hough (previously managing partner) was promoted to head of account management, while August saw Shelley Portet (previously head of social) promoted to head of content and social to oversee an expanding team.