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overview
holdings
landmarks
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overview
This profile considers the Havas advertising group.
It covers -
introduction
The New York-based Havas
advertising conglomerate shares the same origins as the
Havas news service (discussed here)
and media group Vivendi Universal
but has a separate ownership and is independent.
It encompasses advertising, marketing and public relations
businesses across the globe, with most revenue coming from
the US and Western Europe.
the group
The group dates from establishment in Paris by Charles Louis
Havas of a book publishing, book & newspaper retailing
and news service business during the 1830s. Havas moved
into media buying to leverage his newspaper wholesale and
retail distribution activity, and then into advertising.
The family sold its interests for 7 million francs in 1879.
In 1920 Havas merged with Société Générale des Annonces
advertising agency. The news service was nationalised in
1940. The state took a major stake in the publishing, distribution
and advertising arms.
In 1958 the advertising arm gained greater autonomy as Havas
Conseil. In 1968 it became a corporation and during 1975
was reconstituted as a holding company - Eurocom - that
embraced advertising, public relations and other subsidiaries.
Eurocom was first listed on the Paris Bourse in 1982 (diluting
ownership by the publishing arm) and after merging with
the Goulet group acquired marketing, sales promotions, public
relations and design units within and outside France.
During
1984 its alliance with Young & Rubicam (now part of
WPP and then in difficulty after over-expansion)
resulted in the HCM network that brought together its agencies
and those in the Marsteller group.
Three years later the HCM network was widened with agencies
owned by Dentsu and WCRS. In 1990 the group's brands were
merged to create Eurocom Advertising, which merged with
RSCG in 1991 as Euro RSCG Worldwide - operating in 27 countries.
At that time the group was the largest in France and number
7 worldwide.
In 1994 it established Mediapolis, an international media
buying and consulting network, in partnership with Young
& Rubicam.
Two years later, just to keep everyone confused, Euro RSCG
Worldwide was renamed Havas Advertising and moved its global
headquarters to New York. The group operated in 63 countries
with over 200 units. At that time it was acquired by engineering
and infrastructure conglomerate CGE, which was rebadged
as Vivendi.
Vivendi moved on the US beverage, music and film conglomerate
Seagram after selling Havas' outdoor advertising operations
to Paris-based J C Decaux for
£652m and much of its travel agency operations to American
Express.
In conjunction with Vivendi's takeover of Seagram (becoming
Vivendi Universal) the advertising group merged with Media
Planning and then with the Snyder Communications group.
Vivendi Universal was meanwhile selling out of Havas Advertising:
the last stake was disposed of for €453m in 2001.
In April 2004 Havas announced that it would sell back to
75% of WCRS to that agency's management as part of plans
to scale back Arnold Worldwide Partners, initially intended
as a second worldwide agency network alongside Euro RSCG
Worldwide but victim of Havas' global cost-cutting.
By the end of the following year entrepreneur Vincent Bollore
had built up a 20% stake in the group, deposed the chief
executive and become chairman of Havas.
studies
There are no major English studies of Havas.
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