Adage reports that John Winsor & Co. have sold a majority stake of their Boulder-based crowdsourcing operation that is Victors & Spoils to Havas. Winsor, who will remain on as V&S CEO and will also assume the title of chief innovation officer at Havas, offers a lengthy explanation for the acquisition on his blog. Here’s a quick excerpt in case you didn’t feel like clicking through:
“…Along the way I had the good fortune to meet [Havas CEO] David Jones. While many in the advertising industry talk the talk about innovation, very few walk the walk. David takes it one step further and runs the run. I was impressed not only by his vision for Havas and One Young World, but also by his bold philosophy outlined in Who Cares Wins. Every conversation we had flowed from a similar world-view that collaboration, co-creation and crowdsourcing are the future of not only advertising, but business itself; and that a deep dedication to becoming a social business can make the world a better place. We both believe that the new competitive advantage is a collaborative advantage.
AdvertisementFrom those conversations grew a vision to work together to create even more global cultural momentum for collaboration, co-creation and crowdsourcing. I believe that Victors & Spoils and Havas together can change the way advertising is done for both clients and creatives for the better.”
According to Adage, Winsor’s V&S partners-in-crime Evan Fry and Claudia Batten will continue to own a stake in the shop.
Update: We had a quick phone chat earlier with Mr. Winsor and among other things, he tells us that while V&S has had conversations with “every good thinker in the industry” regarding the future of the industry, the new Havas chief innovation officer specifically “loved the way [David Jones] is super bold and wanted to change things and is transparent about the way things are going.” Winsor adds that the Havas move will “give us more resources to grow”, will get “technology scoped and scaled” and from what he tells us, Victors & Spoils is eying expansion in London and Hong Kong. But for now, it’s about “accelerating technology” and going “one step at a time.”