Havas acquires Mr Smith, rebrands it as Havas New Zealand | M&M Global

Havas acquires Mr Smith, rebrands it as Havas New Zealand

Havas has acquired Auckland ad agency Mr Smith, with founding partners John O’Leary and Ben Handy set to head the operation, which will immediately rebrand as Havas New Zealand.

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Havas New Zealand will offer full programmatic digital media, as well as offline media planning and implementation, brand and channel strategy, content creation and production across all platforms to a selection of clients including Emirates, JDE and Studio Canal.

“Havas is a forward thinking, content-inspired company whose beliefs align strongly with ours,” said O’Leary, newly appointed as chief executive of the Auckland office.

“In Europe and the US, Havas clients are having conversations with agency heads, asking for a better agency/client model where all services are provided within a single office, with content at the core.

“Clients have worked through a decade of the segregated agency supplier model, which can often create brand disjointedness and consumer disconnection and they want something to fix their brand issue.”

Havas New Zealand’s new chief creative officer Handy commented that throughout a number of global markets, Havas is creating ‘Havas Villages’, including the recently opened London hub.

“This includes teams of strategists, media and content producers truly collaborating, with no agendas, across multiple channels,” he added. “We have seen Havas clients successfully get connected and cohesive brand collusion using this model rather than the fractured process and work that you see across multiple platforms now.

“Consumers are turning away from the bombardment of bland advertising and gravitating towards content that delivers a strong, connected and cohesive brand message across multiple channels, particularly through mobile. The challenge is to appeal to each consumer’s own quirks and keep them engaged!”

Havas Group chief executive Yannick Bolloré explained to M&M Global why he sees no future for stand-alone creative and media agency businesses – read more here. 

Anna Dobbie

Reporter

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