On 1 March 2012, at the time of announcing its 2011 financial results, Havas also unveiled a new structure for the Havas Group, which includes the rebranding of Euro RSCG Worldwide as Havas Worldwide in September 2012 (this holds true for India as well).
David Jones, global chief executive officer, Havas, said, “The aim of rebranding Euro RSCG Worldwide to Havas Worldwide is to reinforce Havas’ position as the most integrated of all the holding companies, underline the simplicity of Havas’s structure and increase visibility for our brand. Within the new structure, we will launch the Havas Digital umbrella brand as a commercial entity for digital across both Havas Advertising and Havas Media, but the teams and capabilities will remain integrated within their respective divisions consistent with our digital at the core strategy.”
Explaining the reason for Euro RSCG’s name change, a Havas spokesperson said to Campaign India, “We have debated changing the name from Euro RSCG to Havas for many years as Havas has the advantage of being a much simpler brand name. We believe that now is the right time to make the change to highlight our simple structure and demonstrate that we are the most integrated of all the global holding companies.”
The Havas Group will now consist of Havas Worldwide, Arnold Worldwide and Havas Media. The Havas Digital umbrella brand will operate across creative and media for digital.
On the transition strategy, the spokesperson said, “Clients and stakeholders are already familiar with the Havas Worldwide brand name, therefore the transition will be smooth and, at the end of the day, everybody will benefit from a clearer and simpler structure where the network brand name matches the Group’s brand name.”