Q] You last visited India in 2019, how has the market changed in these four years?
India has continued to grow despite the COVID pandemic, and we have had some good years. I think India is on a very good path to growth for the coming decades. I feel even more optimistic about the future of the country after my visit here. I’m very proud of what we have been achieving, and feel very inspired by all the great achievements of the country and of our operations.
The agency has developed a lot from when I last came to India. We’ve grown from a 250- member team to a size of over 1,200. I’ve met the team members, and I’m glad I did because they bring a lot of energy.
Q] What is your growth plan for India?
Our plan in India is to double our presence. Five years ago, the strategy was to triple the team, and we ended up growing by five times in terms of employees. I think it’ll be great to be a 2,500-member team in the next two-three years. We need to scout the market and look for people who would love to be part of the Havas family. The idea is to double our workforce here in the country to reach 3000, let’s say by 2025 or 2026. And then the idea is to have a strength of 10,000 people by the year 2030.
We have plans to expand in production and PR. We also want to reinforce some categories. So, we are looking at completing acquisition of some digital agencies. We hope we can close this opportunity in the coming three months. We will grow, both through acquisition and also organically, thanks to the growth of the market and new business wins.
Q] How, according to you, is Havas’ offerings different from other agencies?
We have four points of differentiation. Number one is organization. We are very integrated. The entire organization sits under one roof. If you visit a block in our office, you wouldn’t know who is from media or creative or experiential or design or data, etc. People are working together to solve the business issues of clients and meet their expectations.
Secondly, we are focused on giving brands purpose-driven solutions. We are not only talking about selling good products that has strong functional benefits like the price or the product itself, but we also help brands understand what they can do for communities, societies and people in general.
The third advantage we have is that we belong to the Vivendi Group, which has big expertise in content.
The fourth point of differentiation is more about the culture. Havas is a family-owned group. My family group owns a large stake in the Vivendi Group and controls the group. This makes us work for long-term goals. So we are not like other groups that have a short-term vision like focusing on quarterly results. Of course, we pay attention to our results, but most importantly, we are invested in a long-term vision.
Q] You operate in many other markets. What are some of the things you believe India can learn from other markets?
India is a huge market by itself. It’s a country that has one of the largest populations, and that too very young. This is a key advantage. Also, from a demographic standpoint, India will become the largest market in the world. Then, in terms of connectivity, the number of households connected to high-speed internet will increase in the years to come. So, I think in India, we will see what we are seeing in the US or Europe; people consuming more and more content and entertainment through a high-speed internet. When you look at what’s happening today in India, I would say it’s the same kind of market, but with a lot more opportunities to grow.
Q] What are some of the practices that India can pick up from markets like the US or Europe?
Talking about developing practices here that we already have in other markets, we just launched a brand design practice in India that we had in the UK and the US. Also, we are launching sports and entertainment activation practice, which I think is less mature in India.
Having said this, I don’t think we need to enforce in India what we do well in the US or in Europe. Instead, you have to take into consideration those local specifications. India is one country, but you still have 27 different regions with different cultures, different ways of seeing things. You guys are a little bit more like the European Union, which is heterogeneous as compared to the US. So, I think you have to apprehend the Indian market more like you apprehend the European market; giving more importance to understanding the local nuances.
Q] In the last few years, Havas has been very vocal about integrated approach for agencies. How has this transition helped your clients?
It has been a game changer, because the origin of the idea is to become a strong partner. I don’t want to be perceived as a salesman trying to sell something. I meet clients and CEOs, and try to give them solutions as per their needs or expectations. Sometimes it’s creative, sometimes it’s media, but it also can be PR or experiential. Clients want to have a simpler relation with their agencies.
Q] But a lot of clients want specialized agencies and may not want a full-service agency. How do you pitch yourself when you are competing with specialist agencies?
Well, we have specialists. I mean we can pitch just for media or just for creative. Some clients are just using the media, some others are using creative. It would have been ok if it was just creative and media. But then you have to add social, event, PR, corporate communication, design etc. I think it’s important for a client to have a more integrated agency. Our decision to go for an integrated agency model came from the clients. They often tell me that they think agencies are too complex to work with as everyone is working in silos.
Q] The first two quarters of the year showed good growth for most agencies, even Havas reported 11% growth. Then came war and other factors leading to recession. What can you share about Q3 and Q4?
The speed of recovery of not only Havas, but also our peers, has been impressive this year. So far, in the first nine months, we are exceeding our projections. We haven’t finished our year yet, but every signal shows that it’ll be a record year in terms of revenue. The third quarter has been a little bit slower on the group level, but that’s because of the base effect. When you compare the third quarter of 2021 to the third quarter of 2020, it was very good because of what happened in 2020.
We are now starting our budgeting process for 2023, and so far, things are looking good. This is surprising, especially because of Europe’s current situation. I don’t see any major slowdown. It’s weird because when you look at the geopolitical situation, it’s very volatile. Inflation is hampering consumers too and it’s huge across France and the rest of Europe and the USA. Some categories might be more impacted but others are projecting growth.
Things can change rapidly, but so far it seems to be robust.
Q] Among all the verticals that Havas Group India operates, where are you seeing the maximum growth?
When I look at the numbers, every discipline is growing. Having said that, we’ve seen COVID impacting each differently.
For instance, just before COVID hit, we acquired Shobiz, an event and experience company. It was hampered by COVID at first, but the team has been very smart and has adapted to digital events. I met Sameer Tobaccowala, the CEO of Shobiz, and got to know that this is going to be a record year. The agency has adapted and continued to grow during the pandemic. There were no layoffs during the Covid lockdowns too even though the business of events was affected. Honestly, I’ve got so much trust in the future of Indian operations that we are ready to invest in anything related to our business.
Q] OTT space in India is growing fast. You own Canal Plus Series in many European markets, do you plan to take that to other markets?
We do have plans for international expansion for Canal Plus. I don’t know whether we will be launching it in India in the short term, but there are plans to launch in other Asian markets.
When it comes to entering India for Canal, we aren’t looking at pure acquisitions. We can enter India through partnerships too. We have a large subscriber base and if we can expand it through smart partnerships across the world, the team will be very interested.
Q] Year 2022 started with talks of mass resignations, and then, towards the last quarter, we were hit by recession. How at Havas are you dealing with such disturbances?
Even during the pandemic, we decided not to lay off any employee or cut their compensation. So, I think our troops have been more loyal and faithful. We didn’t have that many resignations. It is indeed hard to hire the right talent. But over the last couple of weeks, big platforms have announced a lot of layoffs, making is easier for us to hire talent.
Talking of recession, inflation is a concern because of the impact it will have on consumption. We are seeing prices across categories increase. The rising cost of paper is affecting our three publications. Shipping and logistics, however, don’t remain challenges. The price of logistics and shipping has gone down over the past five weeks and so it’s easy for companies to transport goods.
Q] How do you see the media industry change in 2023?
Post pandemic, the world has become very uncertain, and 2023 is just a month away. I’d rather predict something for 2050.
Different industries will see different changes. The entire industry won’t be growing and declining at the same pace. Inflation will impact the capabilities of people to consume traditional goods. The purchasing power will be tough for people. Labour’s compensation and salaries aren’t increasing as per the inflation. This could lead to some social unrest in Europe and the USA. India is growing and isn’t facing this worry. Having said this, I still project growth for the industry. Everything related to digital will grow at a good pace.
Q] How are you making Havas more future-ready?
We have big plans. We are planning a big meeting with the top management in Paris in February 2023, where we will announce a new strategic plan. So, you will have to wait till then, I won’t be able to reveal much now. I will communicate to the leaders of the group and just make sure that we execute it as well as we can. But I must say that we have a strong ambition for the future.
