Australia – Red Havas in Australia has reshaped its leadership team to reflect local opportunities and its global focus on key growth areas; health and wellness, corporate PR and reputation management, technology and e-commerce, consumer, and lifestyle, automotive and mobility, travel and hospitality and employee engagement.
Simone Gupta, CEO at Havas PR Australia, and leading Red Havas, Havas Blvd, One Green Bean and Organic, will continue in her role and report into James Wright, global CEO at Red Havas, and global chairman of the Havas PR Global Collective.
Meanwhile, current Red Havas Managing Director, Steve Fontanot, will take up a new role, commercial managing director for APAC that will include M&A and commercial partnerships. He will support the Havas APAC leadership team on strengthening the PR offering in the region. Steve will continue his role as managing director of Havas Blvd.
Other promotions include Kate Smailes, current executive director at Havas Blvd promoted to managing partner at Havas Blvd and chief client officer; Alex Bryant, current executive director at Sydney PR promoted to managing partner consumer and brand; and Sue Cook, current practice head of health, is promoted to managing partner of health and wellbeing , supported by Nicole Phillips, executive director.
Furthermore, Matt Thomas, current executive director of corporate and public affairs is promoted to managing partner of corporate and public affairs; and Haylie Marchant, current executive director at Brisbane, is promoted to managing partner.
Wright said, “It is an exciting new phase for Red Havas as we grow our global micro-network of agencies. 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.”
Meanwhile, Gupta commented, “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.”
