MAM
Havas Chairman & CEO Alain dePouzilhac resigns
MUMBAI: Alain de Pouzilhac, chairman and CEO of French advertising company Havas, has resigned.
According to agency reports, de Pouzilhac’s departure was followed by a meeting of the Havas’ board in Paris, the first of such a gathering of the company’s management since he lost a battle with rival Vincent Bollore, Havas’ single-largest shareholder who has more than a 20 per cent stake in the company.
de Pouzilhac yesterday proposed to the board of directors a period of transition prior to the installation of a new chairman and chief executive officer. During this transitional period Richard F. Colker, an independent director of ten years’ standing and chairman of the audit committee, will exercise the functions of chairman and CEO, backed by a team of three directors: Ed Eskandarian, Fernando Rodés, Jacques Séguéla, who will take responsibility for the group’s executive functions.
The board of directors in turn approved the proposal and have brought to an end Alain de Pouzilhac’s term of office as Chairman and CEO of Havas. de Pouzilhac will continue to serve as a member of the BOD and to give the group the benefit of his advice and counsel.
The board will convene again in the near future in order to
consider ways of involving Havas’ employees in the Group’s development by means of new equity-based schemes, such as stock-options, bonus shares or other plans.
Martin Gollner analyst Bryan Garnier has earlier said that Havas’ (HAVS) turnaround in short-term would be unlikely if CEO Alain de Pouzilhac resigned. He was of the view that the current valuation of Havas already reflected the group’s turnaround and that a strategic sale would seem unlikely in the short term.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
