Havas Group unites creative and media divisions under one P&L

Starting today, Havas Creative Group and Havas Media Group will no longer exist as divisions but will become business units, under one regional P&L.

With this change, Havas Media Group's global managing director and UK/France chairman Dominique Delport has been appointed global managing director and chief client officer for the Havas Group. Delport will oversee global client relationships, marketing initiatives and new business.

Mike Amour, presently chief executive Asia-Pacific for the Havas Creative Group, is appointed chief executive Asia-Pacific across the creative and media businesses. He will be responsible for overseeing all of Havas Group's 79 offices in the region.

Vishnu Mohan, currently CEO Havas Media Group APAC, will become CEO, Havas Group India & Southeast Asia, responsible for all media and creative group agencies across those markets. Levent Guenes, currently CEO Havas Creative Group Southeast Asia, will become chief growth officer, Havas Group APAC, with a primary focus on driving new ventures, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships. Both Mohan and Guenes will report to Amour.

“I am honoured and excited that Yannick Bolloré has asked me to help lead the next stage of our ‘Together’ strategy in Asia Pacific," Amour said in a statement. "The Havas Village model drives a clear, progressive view on the future of our industry, which is that creativity is the product of radical collaboration. It’s very important that our Village strategy optimises our structure and offerings to create the most modern approach to developing solutions, regardless of where the thinking begins."

Jorge Percovich, presently chief executive Latin America Havas Media Group, is appointed chief executive Latin America for the combined group. 

The move, Havas Group said, is the result of the implementation of a centralised management of its four largest markets where chairmen were appointed at a group level: Chris Hirst for the UK, Alfonso Rodés for Spain and global chief executive Yannick Bolloré for France and the US.

"As the world moves faster and grows more complex, we believe we need to transcend traditional definition of "creative" and "media" to better deliver for our clients," Bolloré said. The move will enable Havas Group to "better share talent and resources on behalf of our clients, as well as create cross-channel learning and development opportunities for our people," Bolloré added. 

"For four years now, the #together strategy has been transformative for our clients and our people in every Havas village," Delport said. "Now it's all about extending Yannick's vision by reinventing new standards, new offers, new services that blend the best of both worlds: relentless creativity and smart media accountability."

Despite the claimed success of the #together strategy, Havas group's full-year revenue growth slowed to 3.3% in 2016, versus revenue growth of 17.3% in 2015.