Havas Changes Euro RSCG Worldwide Leadership: Mercedes Erra and
Stephane Fouks are Named Executive Co-Chairmen, David Jones is
Appointed Chief Executive Officer and Remi Babinet is Named Chief
Creative Officer of Euro RSCG Worldwide James R. Heekin to Leave
Euro RSCG Worldwide PARIS, France, August 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Philippe Wahl, Chief Executive Officer of Havas, today announced
a new leadership of Euro RSCG Worldwide following the resignation
of James R. Heekin. A new international team is being formed to
lead Euro RSCG Worldwide operations: Mercedes Erra and Stephane
Fouks are named Executive Co-Chairmen of Euro RSCG Worldwide; David
Jones is named Chief Executive Officer of Euro RSCG Worldwide and
Remi Babinet is named Chief Creative Officer of Euro RSCG
Worldwide. The appointments are effective immediately. "Mercedes,
Stephane, David and Remi respectively have helped their agencies
achieve tremendous momentum. Given their commitment to excellence
and dedication to their clients, it is a natural evolution for
Havas to elevate them to new responsibilities and challenges. I am
confident this terrific management team will together lead Euro
RSCG Worldwide through a successful turnaround and beyond"
commented Philippe Wahl. Wahl also announced the resignation of
James R. Heekin, the former Chairman and CEO of Euro RSCG
Worldwide, who will pursue other opportunities in the industry.
This decision follows a mutual agreement between the two parties.
His resignation is effective immediately. "Over the last two years,
Jim installed the necessary groundwork to help guide Euro RSCG
through a period of transition" commented Philippe Wahl. "We thank
Jim for his contributions and wish him well in the future," he
added. "My time with Euro RSCG Worldwide has been a valuable
experience," said James R. Heekin. "Today Euro RSCG is headed in a
positive direction both professionally as well as from a business
standpoint. I am quite proud of our accomplishments, and will miss
many of the talented people there." Mercedes Erra Mercedes Erra is
Chairman of Euro RSCG France and President of BETC Euro RSCG,
European Agency of the Year 2001 (Ad Age Global) and France's
leading advertising agency since its foundation in 1994. Mercedes
was previously Managing Director of Saatchi & Saatchi France.
Working closely with key clients including Danone, Evian, Cadbury
Schweppes, L'Oreal, Orange, Sara Lee (Playtex-Wonderbra), and Canal
Group, among others, Mercedes specializes in the reorientation of
big brands. She is responsible for the agency's client service
structure and oversees the planning, consulting, and business
development departments. In January, 2002, Mercedes was elected
President of the AACC (French Advertising Agencies Association),
the first woman to hold this post. A graduate of France's top
institutions (HEC, Sorbonne University), Mercedes' opinion is
regularly sought on a wide range of consumer issues such as women
and advertising, youth, food, and brands. Stephane Fouks Stephane
Fouks is CEO of Euro RSCG France and CEO of Euro RSCG C&O.
Stephane boosts the new strategy and global communications offered
as part of the partnership between Euro RSCG Corporate and Euro
RSCG Omnium, and is responsible for Euro RSCG's French operations.
Stephane has been with Euro RSCG Worldwide since 1988, when he
co-founded RSCG Public, a corporate communications consultancy. He
served as the CEO of the company until 1995 when it merged with
Euro RSCG Consultants and became Euro RSCG Institutional, where he
remained CEO. In 1999 Euro RSCG Institutional and Hiex Reus Patner
merged to form Euro RSCG Corporate. In 2001 he initiated a
cross-working relationship between Euro RSCG Corporate and Euro
RSCG Omnium, which then became Euro RSCG C&O, Stephane is also
an international political advisor. He has, for example, assisted
the Polish President, and also worked in France for the Socialist
Party. In 1983 Stephane worked as an Assistant Deputy to the
private secretary of Michel Rocard, who was Minister of Agriculture
in France. He later became a Producer at Declic. Awarded the Ordre
National de Chevalier du Merite, Stephane is a frequent guest
speaker. He recently addressed the French American Foundation at
Princeton University. He also recently spoke at the convention of
Young Leaders XIV in New York. Stephane received his Doctorate in
Political Communications from Institut d'Etudes Politiques in
Paris. In his free time he enjoys going sailing and skiing with his
family. David Jones David Jones was appointed to the position of
CEO for Euro RSCG Worldwide's flagship New York office in September
2004. Since joining, he has led the agency to win both the global
Jaguar car business and the North American Charles Schwab account.
These wins, on the back of major new business awards from Heineken,
GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Schering-Plough, have turned the
agency into one of New York's hottest shops. David was previously
the London-based Executive Vice President, Managing Director of
Global Business, leading all of Euro RSCG's 42 multinational
clients, which accounted for approximately 40% of worldwide
revenue. David also served as Global Brand Director for Reckitt
Benckiser, after leading the agency's successful pitch for the $500
million worldwide business. David has been a member of Euro RSCG's
Worldwide Executive Committee since 2002. He joined Euro RSCG
Partnership Australia in 1998 as Managing Director, and one year
later, at the age of 32, was appointed Chief Executive Officer.
Under his leadership, Euro RSCG Partnership Australia was named
"Australia's Agency of the Year" in 2000 and 2001. It was also
named Australia's "Interactive Agency of the Year" no fewer than
four times. These successes led to David appearing on the front
cover of GQ magazine as one of Australia's "Top Ten Businessmen
Under 40." In December 2003, he was named one of Media and
Marketing Europe's "40 Under 40." Prior to joining Euro RSCG, David
was at the time the youngest-ever board director at AMV/BBDO, one
of the U.K.'s leading advertising agencies. He has also worked at
Lowe Europe, J. Walter Thompson, and BDH/TBWA. He possesses an
extensive depth of experience working with many of the world's
premier marketers, including Unilever, Mars, Nestle, Pizza Hut,
Dell, Intel, Volvo, Orange, Cadbury, Braun, British Telecom,
Siemens, and Henkel. A graduate of Middlesex Business School in
London and Reutlingen Fachhochschule in Germany, David has lived
and worked in the United States, France, Germany, Australia, and
the U.K., and speaks fluent French and German. Remi Babinet
President and Creative Director of France's leading agency, BETC
Euro RSCG, since its launch in 1994, Remi Babinet is also President
of the Creative Director's Club, an association begun in 2003 and
which represents advertising Creatives. From the start of his
career in 1986, as a creative copy-writer with BDDP, Remi Babinet
was soon recognised as being one of the best Creatives of his
generation, winning various prizes for important clients such as
Polaroid, Virgin, BMW, McCain and Le Printemps. In 1994, Remi
Babinet left BDDP to found his own advertising agency with Eric
Tong Cuong. Mercedes Erra joined them soon after. Renowned for over
ten years as a leading advertising agency in terms of creativity,
innovation and efficiency, BETC holds a unique place in its
industry. Named "European Agency of the Year" (Ad Age Global) and
the most creative agency nine times in ten years, BETC has carved
out a brand image which is original and resolutely modern, to
service its many clients (Evian, Air France, BNP Paribas, Peugeot,
Orange, Canal +, Petit Bateau, INPES, Le Parisien...) and regularly
wins international prizes for their campaigns. Today the company
has 400 employees. In his role as President and Creative Director,
Remi Babinet has consistently challenged the traditional limits of
creative advertising and has opened his agency up to new creative
fields. In 2003, he launched "le Passage du Desir", a space
covering 1000msquared dedicated to fashion, design, painting and
photography (in conjunction with Hussein Chalayan, Yohji Yamamoto,
Viktor & Rolf, Christian Lacroix, "Le Festival d'Automne de
Paris", Rineke Dijkstra, Ruri and Joana Vasconcelos, amongst
others). Three years ago, together with the agency's production
department, he created the "PANIK" events in Paris, which brought
together alternative rock bands and electronic musicians such as
Jay Jay Johanson, Archive, Peter Kruder, Neneh Cherry, and others.
It is Remi Babinet's belief that advertising should be open to and
engage with the world around it, thereby creating new ways with
which to interact with society and its consumers. Jim R. Heekin
Prior to joining Euro RSCG Worldwide, Jim Heekin was Chairman and
CEO of McCann-Erickson WorldGroup and McCann-Erickson Worldwide. He
was named to the former position in March 2000 after assuming the
latter in January 2000. His other positions have included Worldwide
Executive Vice President, Regional Director of the Europe/Middle
East/Africa region of McCann-Erickson Worldwide. He was named to
the London-based post in April 1998 after having served as Regional
Director of McCann North America. Under his leadership, McCann was
named 1999 "European Agency of the Year" and Universal McCann, the
agency's media operation, was named 1999 "Media Agency of the
Year." This marked the first time that one agency won both Media
& Marketing magazine honors. In addition, Heekin was a key
member of the team that won AdWeek magazine's 1998 and 1999 "Global
Agency of the Year" honors. Jim Heekin joined McCann in 1993 as
Regional Director of North America and led the agency's development
of major quality initiatives in the areas of Strategic Planning,
Creativity and Total Communications. This effort directly
contributed to an outstanding track record in client stability and
retention and was a major factor in the agency's win of more Effie
Awards than any other agency in 1996, 1997, and 1998. It also
helped produce record new business years. Jim Heekin began his
advertising career in 1975 in the Research Department of J. Walter
Thompson. He left the agency in 1978 to join General Foods in brand
management. In 1980, he joined Bozell Worldwide as Executive Vice
President, Managing Director on the Chrysler account. He returned
to JWT in 1985 where he was responsible for both the Miller and
Burger King accounts. In 1988 he was appointed General Manager of
JWT New York and elected to the agency's Worldwide Board of
Directors. He is a graduate of Williams College. About Havas Havas
(Euronext Paris: HAV.PA; Nasdaq: HAVS) is a global advertising and
communications services group. Headquartered in Paris, Havas has
three principal operating divisions: Euro RSCG Worldwide which is
headquartered in New York, Arnold Worldwide Partners in Boston, and
Media Planning Group in Barcelona. A multicultural and
decentralized Group, Havas is present in 77 countries through its
networks of agencies located in 44 countries and contractual
affiliations with agencies in 33 additional countries. The Group
offers a broad range of communications services, including
traditional advertising, direct marketing, media planning and
buying, corporate communications, sales promotion, design, human
resources, sports marketing, multimedia interactive communications
and public relations. Havas employs approximately 14,400 people.
Further information about Havas is available on the company's
website: http://www.havas.com/ Forward-Looking Information This
document contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs,
projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or
trends and similar expressions, concerning matters that are not
historical facts. These forward-looking statements reflect Havas'
current views about future events and are subject to risks,
uncertainties, assumptions and changes in circumstances that may
cause Havas' actual results to differ significantly from those
expressed in any forward-looking statement. Certain factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from expected
results include changes in global economic, business, competitive
market and regulatory factors. For more information regarding risk
factors relevant to Havas, please see Havas' filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission. Havas does not intend, and
disclaims any duty or obligation, to update or revise any
forward-looking statements contained in this document to reflect
new information, future events or otherwise. Contacts :
Communications : Peggy Nahmany Tel : +33-(0)1-58-47-90-73 Investor
Relations: Stephane Houri Tel : +33-(0)1-58-47-91-35 DATASOURCE:
Havas CONTACT: Communications: Peggy Nahmany, Tel :
+33-(0)1-58-47-90-73, , Investor Relations: Stephane Houri, Tel :
+33-(0)1-58-47-91-35,
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