MAM
Havas Media Group acquires MFG Labs
MUMBAI: Havas Media Group acquires digital strategy, data science and mathematical research company MFG Labs. It was founded in 2009, by a team of world renowned mathematicians.
The company’s teams of senior mathematical researchers are led by Pierre-Louis Lions – a Fields Medal holder. Pierre-Louis Lions and Jean-Michel Lasry have created and pioneered the development of the MFG “Mean Field Game” theory and its application to the world of finance and business. MFG Labs recent work includes the conception and implementation of Warner Bros France digital strategy: My Warner the first compelling social relationship management programme.
The move will also enable MFG Labs to expand its digital services to other major Havas Media Group Digital Hubs like US, UK, LATAM including APAC and India.
This instantly brings a team of experts to support the data backbone of the Group, via its existing specialist data management platform, Artemis, and its trading desk network, Affiperf. MFG Labs will leverage these strong analytics capabilities by providing in-house machine learning algorithms.
Havas Media Group global managing director Dominique Delport said, “As the data revolution continues there is no doubt that these guys are at the top of their field. Two years ago we identified their impressive capabilities in the social data world. The next stage for us was to make sure we were able to bring them into the group to reinforce our solid foundations in data and this driving force to integrate data and content is paying off well. With the increasing importance of consumer engagement platforms pushing brands beyond traditional media, the two disciplines are totally interconnected.”
“We have been working with the MFG teams for many months to expand and extend our leading data and content services to our clients around the world and the feedback we have had has been outstanding,” added Delport.
MFG co-founder Pierre-Louis Lions on the acquisition,”We join the Havas Media Group at a unique moment where quantitative methodologies and Big Data analytic are becoming the key to media performance. For an intrinsically quantitative and programmatic spirited team like us these are exciting times.”
The acquisition is effective from today and follows on from the group‘s continued investment in data with the acquisition of data analytics company Elisa DBI in the UK and Spain last month.
AD Agencies
Prakash Nair reportedly quits Ogilvy after 23 years
One of the agency’s longest-serving leaders has moved on, with his next destination still unknown
MUMBAI: After more than two decades at one address, Prakash Nair has left the building. The president and head of office, north at Ogilvy has moved on from the agency, according to highly placed industry sources. His next move remains unknown. Ogilvy did not respond to requests for comment.
Nair spent over 23 years at the agency, making him one of its longest-serving senior figures. He was elevated to lead the Gurugram office in April 2022, a role that put him at the helm of Ogilvy’s northern operations at a time of considerable churn across the advertising industry.
Before taking charge in the capital, Nair served as associate president at Ogilvy Mumbai, where he worked on some of the agency’s most prized accounts, including Mondelez, Tata Motors, and BP Castrol. Over the years, he built a reputation for driving modern, integrated, and award-winning work, the kind that wins metals at Cannes and keeps clients from straying.
His departure was marked in style. A farewell gathering was held in Delhi, attended by senior figures from across the advertising fraternity, a signal of the regard in which Nair is held in an industry that does not always pause to say goodbye properly.
Where he goes next is the question the industry is now asking. After 23 years at one of the world’s most storied agencies, the answer, when it comes, will be worth watching.
