Havas' journey of reinvention saw it become one of the first agencies to not only streamline its operations under specific units but also create Havas Village, one of the earlier versions of what is now seen as a campus approach from holding companies. Amid internal and external changes, the company is taking another big step with the launch of Havas Converged.
According to Havas' chairman and CEO, Yannick Bolloré, Havas Converged is a collective journey that is not only responding to changing industry needs but also marks a "radical shift" in the company's approach to growth. Converged rollout will be completed across all Havas networks in the coming weeks including Havas India, with training for all employees and access granted to all its clients.
A Unified Approach To Audience Engagement
Dubbed an operating system, Havas Converged hinges on four aspects - 'intelligence', 'design', 'activate' and 'measure'. It unifies Havas' tools and systems into a single, integrated platform. "In the past, different divisions within Havas had their tools - creative teams, media planners and production units. Converged brings all elements together, allowing for a more seamless collaboration across the entire group," Bolloré explained.
He described it as a human-led, audience-first and data-fueled operating system that leverages advanced data technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver real-time, optimised, personalised and responsible content at scale. The system's foundation was in Havas' media audience buying tool, also named Converged, and has now expanded to encompass all areas of expertise within the company.
Interoperability, Flexibility, Implementation
One of Converged's features is its interoperability. "Converged is fully open, transparent and interoperable with our clients' systems. Regardless of the technology our clients use, they can seamlessly integrate with Converged, ensuring a smooth and efficient workflow," Bolloré noted.
It is also designed to be adaptable, allowing for the integration of new technologies as they emerge. "If a groundbreaking technology or company comes to market, we can easily incorporate it into Converged," Bolloré added.
Tamara Green, Managing Director at Havas, shared insights on the practical implementation of Converged, citing successful cases with KFC and Harman. Green detailed how the system's four-step process helped achieve remarkable results. "Converged not only optimises content delivery but also provides crucial performance measurement, enabling us to refine our strategies in real-time," Green said.
Continued & Big Investment
Bolloré shared that Havas has invested upwards of Euro 600 million in innovation by upping its capabilities in data, tech and AI. Now, it will make an additional investment of Euro 400 million over the next four years for the best in marketing technology, data and Gen AI, supercharging the delivery of creativity, media and production.
This additional financial commitment not only builds on its investment in new capabilities and tools but also the establishment of international networks dedicated to content production, customer experience and ecommerce as well as the formation of strategic partnerships with global technology leaders. Havas will appoint a Global Task Force to support this major investment.
"The operating system has been ready for over six months. But now that we have worked on it with some of our clients willing to experiment, and have seen the results, we feel confident about the impact, it will make," Bolloré said.
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