Mercedes Erra: The founder of BETC gives a lecture to students
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Mercedes Erra, founder and president of the BETC group, gave a lecture to Intuit Lab students to share her vision of advertising.
Classrooms at BETC
The “E” in BETC stands for Mercedes Erra. At the helm of France’s leading advertising agency, she has written a chapter in brand history. McDonald’s and its tagline “Come as you are,” Danone’s focus on health, Evian’s swimming babies, and Air France’s slogan “Making the sky the best place on earth”—all these messages and strategies were born with her. The president of Havas Worldwide has made a name for herself in the advertising world. A former literature teacher and graduate of HEC and the Sorbonne, she found her calling at the Saatchi agency, where she rose to become Managing Director. This expert in brand strategy creation discerns not only brands’ desires but also consumer trends.
Mercedes Erra's career is marked by her convictions
Having immigrated to France at the age of six, Mercedes Erra is deeply attached to the country. She champions its diversity through her projects and advocates for the recognition of migrants. Reflecting her personal history and convictions, she became Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Museum of the History of Immigration. Also committed to the fight for gender equality, Mercedes Erra places humanity at the heart of her actions, just as she does within her agency, BETC.
A profession of persuasion
From her experience as a professor to her career in advertising agencies, Mercedes Erra believes that advertising has a strong connection to the humanities. In this "profession of persuasion" and "questioning," understanding people, their psychology , what they think, and knowing how to listen to them are important qualities. " If you want to know people, you have to think about them, not about advertising. We reflect a lot and study people on general topics," she explained during the conference.
Speaking to students at Intuit Lab, Mercedes Erra shared her vision of the advertising profession. How can we sell better? This question was posed to move beyond the issues raised by promoting certain products. “Our job isn't to please people,” she asserted. “The goal is to produce quality work. We're not willing to do just anything,” emphasized Erra. For her, “communication is a perspective, a point of view.” The combination of talents within a team is also crucial to the success of a project: “There are many different kinds of intelligence within an agency.”
“Advertising should always be a gift”
She believes that “advertising should always be a gift.” “ We can’t force people to watch it, to like it. We don’t want to be bombarded by advertising,” she reminds us. In response, agencies face the challenge of offering this “gift,” which can take many forms. “We have things to convey, information to share, we can create an emotion.”
His rich career came to inspire the students during this fascinating and informative conference. His convictions and his vision will no doubt have resonated with our future artistic directors for the rest of their careers. The class of 2023 will also have the honor of having Mercedes Erra as godmother. Huge support!