MAM
Havas Creative India wins integrated communication mandate for William Grant & Sons
MUMBAI: Havas Creative has started the year with a bang by winning the integrated communication mandate for William Grant & Sons, following a rigorous multi-agency pitch in December. The agency will be handling the entire India portfolio business, which includes reputed brands like Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Grant’s, Monkey Shoulder, Hendrick’s and Drambuie.
As part of the mandate, Havas will be responsible for the creative strategy and execution across online and offline platforms. The business will be managed out of the agency's Delhi office.
William Grant & Sons India marketing head Payal Nijhawan said “We are very excited to have Havas Group India on board as we head into the next stage of our journey in India. Together with the teams at Havas Group, we will continue building momentum with our brands and speaking to our consumers through an integrated marketing approach.”
Havas Group India CEO Rana Barua said “We are delighted to partner with a legendary brand like William Grant & Sons, who have a bouquet of iconic brands like Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Grant’s, Monkey Shoulder and Hendricks, and our task will be to take the brands further with unique and meaningful ideas. With our Havas’ integrated Village model, we will continue to make a meaningful difference to the brands by providing seamless and agile business solutions. We look forward to further strengthening their legacy in the Indian market.”
William Grant & Sons, Ltd. is an independent family-owned distiller headquartered in the United Kingdom and founded by William Grant in 1887. Today, the luxury spirits company is run by the fifth generation of his family and distils some of the world’s leading brands of Scotch whisky, including the world’s favorite single malt Glenfiddich®, The Balvenie® range of handcrafted single malts and the world’s third largest blended Scotch Grant’s® as well as other iconic spirits brands such as Hendrick’s® Gin, Sailor Jerry®, Milagro® Tequila and, most recently, Tullamore D.E.W Irish Whiskey.
MAM
WPP appoints Guillaume Epstein as its global head of commercial
Publicis veteran to streamline pricing, contracts and client deals globally
LONDON: WPP has created a new global commercial leadership role and appointed Guillaume Epstein to lead it, according to media reports, as the company looks to simplify client deals and strengthen commercial operations.
In his new role as global head of commercial, Epstein is expected to oversee pricing structures, contract frameworks and client negotiations across markets. The move points to WPP’s growing focus on making its commercial approach more streamlined and consistent worldwide.
Epstein joins from Publicis Groupe, where he spent close to four years in senior leadership roles, including global commercial finance director and chief operating officer for Brazil. His work there covered financial strategy, operational efficiency and client profitability across multiple regions.
Prior to that, he held key roles across Asia Pacific within Publicis, including chief commercial officer for Apac and regional client finance director. During this period, he helped build regional hubs, standardise pricing models and manage complex, multi-country client relationships across markets such as Singapore, China and Hong Kong.
He also brings experience from Valtech, adding digital transformation expertise to his commercial skill set.
At Publicis, Epstein played a key role in developing multi-country rate cards, improving financial processes and creating training programmes around negotiation and pricing strategy. His work also focused on unlocking new revenue streams through digital and analytics capabilities.
The newly created role at WPP comes at a time when global agencies are under pressure to offer more transparent, efficient and scalable commercial models to clients.
With Epstein’s appointment, WPP appears to be fine-tuning its commercial engine, aiming to make client partnerships simpler, sharper and more aligned with evolving market needs.
