BUILDING AN AGILE FUTURE

They are counted amongst the top six holding companies in the world, and in the first quarter of 2025, registered a revenue growth rate higher than some of its competitors, like Omnicom and WPP. Last year has been an action-packed one for the network, with Havas demerging from Vivendi, giving them greater autonomy for pursuing growth opportunities. Interestingly, 2024 also saw the advertising company meeting their annual revenue guidance with wins like Red Bull, Diageo, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi across markets.

On his India visit, Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO of the company, spoke to IMPACT about the success of the ‘converged strategy’ which he announced at Cannes last year, how digital is accounting for 50% of their media buying globally and how exactly Havas is keeping up with the times and technology. Talking about Havas’ growth story, Bolloré says, “We have seen excellent growth in APAC in the first quarter of 2025, especially in India, where we grew a little bit more than 10% and over 5% globally. So, we are very satisfied with our growth for the first quarter and especially satisfied with what’s happening at Havas in India.” Some of the big Havas clients in India include Reckitt, Hyundai, Voltas Beko, DS Group, Swiggy, TVS Eurogrip, Tata Steel, Tata Motors CV, HUL, Amazon MX Player, Ferns n Petals, Burger King, Pepsi, etc.
Havas’ revenue in India has largely been steered by their media buying division, with their creative counterpart playing catch-up for years. There has been a consistent effort to bring both on par ever since Rana Barua took over as the India chief. But has the Havas Chairman seen much of a development on that front? “So, Havas Media today is one of the strongest players in the industry with 8% market share as far as media buying is concerned in India. With regard to Havas Creative, we have good material for Cannes Lions that is coming from India this year. So, I believe that we could have some good news, good awards to celebrate with our Indian creative agencies in Cannes in a couple of weeks.”