BETC Design

Founded in Paris, France in 1995, BETC has become known throughout the advertising industry for its creativity and iconic campaigns led by co-founder Remi Babinet. BETC is now a part of the Havas Worldwide group, consists of about 900 employees, and also boasts offices in London, Sao Paulo, and Los Angeles, offering a wide range of services to major clients. To date, their most notable campaigns include those done for Super Loto, Ubisoft, Louis Vuitton, Canal+, Air France, Evian, and Disneyland while their list of clients also includes Lacoste, Peugeot, Leroy Merlin, AXA, and Decathlon. When the agency first came into being, it was under the name of Babinet Tong Cuong, created by Remi Babinet and Eric Tong Cuong in 1994. Then, a year later, the original founders Babinet and Cuong were joined by French businesswoman Mercedes Erra, with the agency being renamed to Babinet Erra Tong Cuong Euro RSCG - or BETC for short. As a part of the Havas Worldwide group, the agency showed promise early on, but in 2002, co-founder and co-president Cuong opted to part ways with BETC to take on the role of president at BMI Music, France, leaving Babinet and Erra to run the show. By 2005, BETC was performing well with many great advertising campaigns under its belt, which didn't go unnoticed by the parent company Havas Worldwide. In the middle of 2005, Havas made many changes in management, starting with bringing in Philippe Wahl as the CEO. Havas then decided to promote many executives to the roles of managing directors to form their new generation of management, which included Remi Babinet and Mercedes Erra. Babinet and Erra would continue to hold down the fort at BETC while in their new roles with Havas. Not long after, in 2007, BETC's creative director since 1999, Stephane Xiberras, was also given an increased role to become the president and chief creative officer at BETC. Over the ensuing years, BETC would forge many branches to expand their offering to clients. In 2007, BETC Shopper was launched as the retail-focussed branch, with other branches like BETC Content, BETC Digital, BETC Luxe, BETC Start Up Lab, BETC Pop, and BETC Design joining the fold. Having started in Paris in the mid-90s, Havas and BETC opted to grow into a global network in 2011, with its first step being London later that same year. With Neil A. Dawson as the co-founder and executive creative director, BETC's expansion to England helped to bring in big-name clients like Bacardi, Samsung, and Diet Coke. In 2014, BETC's expansion continued, taking the French agency to Sao Paulo, where Gal Barradas and Erh Ray began as co-CEOs in Brazil; Pepsico, Citroen, Peugeot, and Pao de Acucar are among the high-profile names of BETC Brazil's client list. Then came BETC's long-rumoured move to the United States of America: in late 2017, the agency expanded to Los Angeles, announcing the move by announcing their partnership with choreographer Benjamin Millepied for L.A. Dance Workout and L.A. Dance Magazine. The year of 2018 saw BETC achieve another step in their global expansion plans by collaborating with Chinese makeup brand Marie Dalgar. To celebrate the brand's tenth anniversary, Marie Dalgar teamed up with Christophe Pradere, the CEO of BETC Asia, to launch an iconic campaign which "embodies the brand's mission to inspire and enable women to create and stage their unique beauty," per Branding in Asia. With operations in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia, BETC has achieved its 2011 ambition of becoming a global network, which Havas has backed them with throughout their many expansions. In 2008, BETC embarked on one of its most ambitious projects to date: moving to Les Magasins Generaux. Standing on the Canal de l'Ourcq, in Pantin. Remi Babinet decided that a graffiti-laden, derelict industrial complex could one day house the 900-odd employees of BETC. Playing a part in the Grand Paris Project, BETC renovated the massive building - which boasts 20,000 square metres of floor space - deciding to keep its 1930s industrial architecture intact while modernising its interior and incorporating an array of clean energy measures.