Staff Reporters
Dec 19, 2019

Havas acquires experiential agency Shobiz in India

This is Havas Group's third acquisition in India this year.

L to R: Tejpal Singh Patpatia, chief operating officer, Shobiz; Vishnu Mohan, chairman & CEO, India & South East Asia Havas Group; Bobby Pawar, chairman & CCO, Havas Group India; Shital Tobaccowala partner Shobiz; Sameer Tobaccowala, CEO Shobiz; Rana Barua, group CEO, Havas Group India
L to R: Tejpal Singh Patpatia, chief operating officer, Shobiz; Vishnu Mohan, chairman & CEO, India & South East Asia Havas Group; Bobby Pawar, chairman & CCO, Havas Group India; Shital Tobaccowala partner Shobiz; Sameer Tobaccowala, CEO Shobiz; Rana Barua, group CEO, Havas Group India

Havas Group has acquired Indian experiential agency Shobiz, headquartered in Mumbai, representing its third agency takeover in India this year.

Shobiz chief executive Sameer Tobaccowala will continue to run the agency, reporting to Vishnu Mohan, the chairman and CEO of Havas Group India & South East Asia.

The agency, founded in 1982, has five offices across India and employs more than 300 staff. It provides integrated experiential communications services that includes conceptualising and commissioning, strategic planning, communication and content design, creative, graphic and architectural design, audience acquisition, production and logistics and final reporting. The agency claims to have 142 repeat clients.

Mohan said Shobiz will bring in a new kind of creative skill to Havas' multi-disciplinary 'Village' model.

Havas acquired UX design agency Think Design, which has about 125 employees, in May, followed by the takeover of digital independent agency Langoor, with about 170 staff, in September. 

In a press release, Havas Group chairman and CEO Yannick Bolloré said India has increasingly become a priority for Havas, especially in the past year. "After strengthening our local digital and service design capabilities with the acquisitions of Think Design and Langoor, we can now significantly boost our activation and experiential offer on the rapidly growing events market in India."

Tobaccowala explained: "Havas Group’s integrated approach to brand building coupled with their entrepreneurial spirit resonated with us. We are confident that this collaboration will unlock unprecedented growth opportunities for us."

 

Source:
Campaign Asia

Related Articles

Just Published

2 days ago

Creative Minds: Jereek Espiritu pushes his ideas to ...

An intervention by a computer repairman drove Jereek Espiritu away from a career flying helicopters to a world of creative leaps and flights of fancy.

2 days ago

UM launches Full Colour Media with a focus on ...

Full Colour Media is underpinned by a body of custom research conducted with more than 10,000 brands and with 5 million data points, culminating in a ‘Brand Patterns’ proprietary model designed to grow and differentiate brands.

2 days ago

Campaign Global Agency of the Year Awards 2024: ...

With the final entry deadline for Agency of the Year Global fast approaching, we speak to judges who share their views on the biggest opportunities and challenges for 2025, and what they hope to see in winning entries.

2 days ago

The 'laziest influencer' makes cleaning effortless—l...

S.C. Johnson's new mold-cleaning campaign features their least energetic spokesperson ever—a sloth whose main qualification is mastering the art of minimal effort.