Havas Worldwide Canada made some major changes to its executive ranks.
The agency has promoted Ann Bouthillier, previously the CEO of its Palm + Havas arm, to CEO of the agency’s Canadian operations, and selected Helen Pak, most recently a global creative strategist at Facebook Canada, as its new CCO.
The appointments are effective immediately.
The senior-level changes come as the agency integrates its entire Canadian operation, which will now fall under the joint leadership of Bouthillier and Pak.
As part of the shuffle, Bill Sharpe, chairman and CEO of Havas Worldwide Toronto, will be stepping down at the end of this month. Sharpe is the original founder of the agency that would later become Havas Worldwide Toronto. Sharpe co-founded Sharpe Blackmore in 1996, then sold a stake to Euro RSCG, now known as Havas Worldwide. The French holding company then rebranded the office as Havas Worldwide Canada Toronto in 2012.
All of the holding company’s Canadian divisions, including Arnold Worldwide Canada and Palm + Havas, will be folded under the Havas Worldwide Canada umbrella. Media, creative and digital will also be under that leadership team. The idea, according to Bouthillier, is to create a single, unified Havas that has no silos.
“We’ve eliminated all the barriers from the internal structure. There won’t be barriers in terms of regionality. We’ll truly work together as one united office,” she said.
Havas has been pitching new business as a unified unit that includes creative, media and digital for about a year, Bouthillier said. According to its website, the agency’s client list includes Reckitt Benckiser, Merck, Home Hardware, Kraft and Evian.
The guiding philosophy behind the merger is the “Havas Village,” a concept that was first applied in Paris and has been widely adopted by offices in New York, London, San Francisco and Milan. Offices within the network can now share clients and projects, Pak said, which will allow them to deliver the kind of 360 degree solutions the market demands.
There are no current plans for layoffs as a result of the changes.
Bouthillier has been with Palm + Havas for 19 years and recently finished a two year term as the president of the Association of Quebec Advertising Agencies. Pak has been with Facebook for just over a year, having left her position as executive vice-president and co-creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi to join the social network’s Canadian operations.
In a release, Andrew Benett, global chief executive officer at Havas Worldwide, said, “Ann has a great track record of building brands in Canada. Under her leadership, Palm + Havas has become a leading agency and driven success for all our client partners. Her remarkable leadership skills with our people and clients make her the perfect candidate to lead the Canadian operations.”
He added that Canada is a “high potential market” and that the integration and new leadership are a “step toward implementing [its] vision” in the market.
Alex Chepovetsky will continue to lead Havas’ digital offering in Canada and Tom Olesinki will continue to lead its media operations.
