Do good or be punished, warns Tory ad man

David Jones, the British chief executive of French advertising group Havas, is explaining the language difference when it comes to doing business. To prove his point, he reels off a few mild expletives in fluent French and gestures wildly in Gallic fashion, thumping the table at the Charlotte Street Hotel where we are meeting.

Jones, who is based in New York, is probably best-known here for being David Cameron's ad man before the last general election. Nicknamed "DJ", the father of four is 45, the same age as the Prime Minister, and has a similar debonair manner.

So it is a surprise to see him suddenly so fired up. But anger is a key theme in his timely new book Who Cares Wins: Why Good Business Is Better Business.

His thesis is simple: Social media and technology have changed the rules. Consumers and citizens now have the power to punish business and governments. This poses a grave threat to organisations that fail to act decently, that have a gap between their image and reality.

"We are entering the Age of Damage where if you as a business, as a leader, don't behave in the right way, people will take you down," believes Jones, pointing to BP's experience with the Gulf of Mexico spill. Or look at footballer Ryan Giggs' efforts to stop people talking about his love life. "'I know, I'll sue Twitter' - is probably not a good strategy."

But the new social world is also an opportunity for those who embrace openness and sustainability. If you behave well, consumers will become advocates and share this with their friends. In future, "it will be very difficult to do well without doing good".

Jones, who used to run Havas creative agency Euro RSCG before his promotion in March, has pushed this theme for several years. The Arab Spring, the News of the World scandal and the Occupy anti-capitalism protests have all reinforced his case.

He tries to practise what he preaches. He co-founded One Young World, an organisation that brings together young people to champion sustainability, and is a prolific user of social media, even complaining on Twitter about poor experiences with Eurostar and BlackBerry.

Jones has been on the receiving end too. Euro RSCG's work for the Tories was heavily criticised, even though he says the airbrushed "I'll cut the deficit, not the NHS" posters were not the agency's work.

He remains "a big fan" of Cameron but no longer plays an active role. "Governments don't use ad agencies between elections," says Jones, who last saw the PM a few months ago.

Some observers, including within Havas, thought Jones was unwise to get close to the Tories - especially when One Young World hired former News of the World editor Andy Coulson after he quit as Cameron's director of communications.

Coulson was said to spend several days a week at Euro RSCG in London. "Andy didn't work in the office. He visited a few times. As soon as the current allegations emerged, we terminated his contract." Jones won't elaborate - but "as a professional, I thought he was very good at his job".

Jones grew up in the North-west of England and went to university in Germany, and to Middlesex Business School. He rose fast at London agency Abbott Mead Vickers before jumping to Euro RSCG, aged 32, to run Australia, the UK and then the US.

His biggest recent hit is mineral water brand Evian's Roller Babies, viewed 175 million times on YouTube. Euro RSCG also made the first gay-themed ad for McDonald's in France, while other top clients include Peugeot Citroën and Reckitt Benckiser.

Havas is one of half a dozen global marketing services groups but isn't as big as WPP or Publicis. He claims being smaller is an advantage. "Whenever an industry is going through massive change, does anyone ever say having a bigger legacy business is a good thing?"

Annual revenues are €1.6 billion (£1.38 billion) and growth in the last quarter was the fastest in three years. French tycoon Vincent Bolloré owns 35% of the group where two thirds of turnover comes from creative and a third from media buying.

The rumour is that despite being CEO, Jones isn't in charge of the media agencies, which include MPG and Arena. "It all reports to me," he replies. Jones also dismisses suggestions that the key French and Spanish divisions don't get on. "Most of the people who say this kind of thing are our competitors."

Jones has €1 billion for acquisitions and is keen on "building digital and social entrepreneurial businesses". Buying a big group such as Aegis or Interpublic is "not something we spend any time thinking about".

He thinks 2012 will be tough, and says agencies must embrace technology. "If we are just in the business of advertising and media we'll miss one of the biggest revolutions that is taking place."

The future is "location-based services meets retail meets collaborative consumption". So a shopper might check out prices at nearby stores in real time on a mobile and then seek a discount through an instant group offer via social media.

Jones is optimistic about the future: "I can get a much better headline if I say, 'This is the end of advertising, it's the end of the game'. If I say, 'This is an amazing time for the ad industry, our clients need us more than ever,' no one wants to write about it."

On Twitter: @gideonspanier