Havas Creative Group MD Dan Gibson has said there are no plans to fold Host Singapore into Havas there, saying their clients “prefer the current set-up”.
“And so does the Havas Group, who invested in the Host brand in order to further develop it beyond Australia,” Gibson told Mumbrella Asia editor Robin Hicks.
The comments come after several high-profile names including Noah Regan who left to take a break from the industry after less than a year and Paul Ward who has joined Naked in Sydney. in December Host moved into Havas’ offices in Singapore as the group looked to drive integration, less than a year after the agency launched in the region.
Gibson said culture is a strength across the Havas Village in Singapore, adding: “We don’t want a monoculture – each agency has its own distinct culture but with shared services.
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“Specific to Host Singapore, although we’re no longer in a shophouse, the team still has very much its own space within the Village. So there’s been no dramatic shift in culture – we’re just sitting at our desks in a different building.”
Host Singapore remains very connected to Host Sydney, Gibson continued, explaining there’s a lot of traffic between the two agencies.
“Anthony [Freedman, Host’s regional CEO] is here about seven or eight times a year, Olly Taylor [chief strategy officer] even more often, and Greg and Ross will spend a lot of time in Sydney, as will I,” he said.
“The great thing about the move is that it gives Host access to all the shared services within the Havas Creative Group and the wider Havas Village – production, traffic, digital, operations, etc. So Host is effectively scaling up and is now even better set up to deliver for its clients.”
The full interview with Dan Gibson can be read on Mumbrella Asia.