Red Havas reshapes Australian leadership team
Industry update

Red Havas reshapes Australian leadership team

(Pictured: Red Havas Australia's Managing Partners with Havas PR Australia CEO, Simone Gupta, third from the right)

Red Havas Australia is reshaping its leadership team to reflect its global strategy.

Since being founded in Australia in 2019, Red Havas has rolled out the brand of merged media agencies into 14 markets and 22 offices around the world, with its focus on PR, social, content, data, and brand experience.

Effective immediately, the changes include:

Simone Gupta, CEO Havas PR Australia will continue to lead Red Havas, Havas Blvd, One Green Bean and Organic, but will now report into James Wright, Global CEO Red Havas, and Global Chairman of the Havas PR Global Collective.

Red Havas Managing Director, Steve Fontanot, will take up a new role as Commercial Managing Director for APAC, which will include M&A and commercial partnerships. Steve will continue his role as Managing Director of Havas Blvd, but the Managing Director of Red Havas role will not be replaced at this time, with a national Managing Partner bench driving the strategic direction of the agency across Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane offices.

Alex Bryant, Executive Director, Sydney PR is promoted to Managing Partner Consumer & Brand, with a remit to drive the consumer and creative offering across the agency.

Sue Cook, Practice Head of Health, is promoted to Managing Partner Health and Wellbeing supported by Nicole Phillips, Executive Director, who will join the senior leadership team. 

Matt Thomas, Executive Director, Corporate and Public Affairs is promoted to Managing Partner Corporate and Public Affairs, with a remit to drive the Corporate PR, Public Affairs and Employee Engagement offering, and an expanded remit across the leadership of the Melbourne office.

Haylie Marchant, Executive Director, Brisbane, is promoted to Managing Partner, with a continued remit to grow the Queensland operation and expanded responsibilities across the agency. 

Kate Smailes, Executive Director, Havas Blvd is promoted to Managing Partner, Havas Blvd & Chief Client Officer with a remit to drive growth across Brand Experience and the automotive and mobility category.

Global CEO, James Wright, said it is an exciting phase for Red Havas: "We have great leaders in place to take us into the next evolution of the business and a superb group of future leaders helping us power the business. These changes enable the business to strengthen our areas of specialisations, as well continue to develop new offerings as clients evolve. Red Havas Australia continues to be one of the strongest performers for Havas in the APAC region."

CEO of Havas PR Australia, Simone Gupta, said: “Over the past 18 months myself and Steve have taken the Red Havas senior leadership team in Australia through a number of changes, to ensure we are future fit in this transformed world to grow the business and changing needs of clients. The deep expertise and experience of this leadership team reflects key areas of opportunity and growth, and enables us to attract the best talent."

The company said it has further plans for expansion and investment as it continues to grow with support from the Havas Group and its parent company, Vivendi. It is currently looking for an executive leader to lead its growing Social and Content team.
 

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