Speaking to Media, Rodes said a three-pronged approach would include acquisitions and organic growth, singling out partnerships as a critical plank in building the agency’s foundation, particularly in China and India. “We’re having conversations with different groups to see which we can have partnerships with,” he said.
Rodes said that the new expansion phase was long overdue, after years of acquisitions which cost Havas more than é2 billion in two years through a staggering number of buyouts. “You don’t marry 62 times in two years, so we had to digest that. The company was in a delicate situation. But now that we’re growing, it’s time to devote ourselves to geographic expansion.”
Rodes also nominated digital as a key priority for the group, announcing plans to expand digital resources to 100 and 70 people in India and China respectively by December (Media, 25 September). In India, the 100-strong digital team - up from 20 - is expected to be spread across Media Contacts as part of the country’s role as a global search facility. In China, the network’s digital professionals will span Media Contacts and Euro RSCG 4D.
Rodes said the group was happy with the progress of the newly-launched MPG, adding that intelligence, not scale, would play a key role in the network’s development. But one media agency source who declined to be named said Asia-Pacific has always been regarded as a weak spot for the Havas network. “It has never had a strong operation in this part of the world.
Clearly, as the consolidations in Asia continue to take place among those such as WPP and Omnicom, if (Havas) wants to be a force, it has to so something. Its MPG product doesn’t have any scale which would allow it to leverage across the region, and until it sorts out China and India, it’s not going to be pretty.”
