MAM
Havas partners with Wellcom Worldwide to launch Havas Studios
New Delhi: Leading advertising and communication group Havas has partnered with global creative production agency Wellcom Worldwide to launch Havas Studios – a new, integrated global production business.
According to the group, Havas Studios’ capabilities will span film, audio, print, photographic and digital content production, encompassing content origination talent and a wide range of post-production facilities. It will also have dedicated teams supporting the integrated delivery of retail and e-Commerce platform-ready content.
The partnership agreement will see employees from both businesses transferred into the new entity, which will be headquartered in London. It will be led by Havas UK chief operating officer Paul Ward, who takes on the new title of global CEO, Havas Studios. He will be supported by an executive committee comprising both Havas and Wellcom senior executives, the agency announced on Thursday.
“Building better brand experiences means rethinking how content is managed. Now that digital is fully integrated into everything we do, it is content’s turn to become an organic part of our approach. By partnering with Wellcom we are now able to provide our clients with the best production capabilities in the industry,” said Havas Group, CEO, Yannick Bolloré.
A micro-network of integrated content studios will be created, first in London, New York, Chicago, and Kuala Lumpur, followed by further studios across Europe, Australia, China, India, Latin America, and the West Coast of the US.
According to Havas Creative, CEO, Chris Hirst, the new, global micro-network of studios, will offer clients an innovative, technology-first solution they genuinely can’t find anywhere else. “We know that it’s no longer enough to just make better ads – all clients, from the smallest to the biggest global brands now need smarter, more agile, more bespoke, and more cost-effective solutions,” he added.
Wayne Sidwell, Global CEO at Wellcom Worldwide said, “It’s an incredibly enviable model and I’m very excited to see the business continue to develop over the next few years.”
Brands
AI becomes key tool for Indian travellers, Agoda report finds
68 per cent plan to use AI for trips as 33 per cent already rely on it.
MUMBAI: Holiday planning is getting a software upgrade less “Where should we go?” and more “What does the algorithm say?” Indian travellers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to map their journeys, with new data from Agoda’s 2026 Travel Outlook Report suggesting that AI is fast becoming central to how trips are imagined, planned and booked.
While 33 per cent of respondents said they already use AI tools for travel planning, a far larger 68 per cent indicated they are likely to rely on it for their next trip pointing to a sharp acceleration in adoption in a market already comfortable with digital-first travel.
What travellers want from AI, however, goes well beyond basic search. The report shows 38 per cent are looking for recommendations on local attractions and activities, while 37 per cent expect personalised itineraries. Destination discovery remains a key use case at 29 per cent, with dining suggestions (23 per cent) and budget management (22 per cent) also emerging as practical applications.
The shift reflects a broader change in expectations AI is no longer a novelty but a planning companion expected to work across every stage of the journey, from inspiration to execution.
Trust levels appear to be keeping pace. Nearly 88 per cent of respondents said they either trust or feel neutral about AI-generated recommendations, including 53 per cent who expressed clear confidence. This builds on earlier trends, with Agoda’s 2025 survey showing nine in ten Indian travellers already using apps to book travel suggesting AI adoption is more evolution than disruption.
The company has been testing this appetite through initiatives such as its 2025 AI-powered Vacation Planner campaign, which generated customised itineraries and visuals based on user inputs, delivered with a layer of celebrity-led engagement.
For platforms like Agoda, which aggregates more than 6 million properties, over 130,000 flight routes and 300,000 travel activities, AI offers a way to navigate scale without overwhelming users turning abundance into relevance.
As AI continues to embed itself into everyday decision-making, India is emerging as a market where travel planning is not just going digital, but decisively intelligent.
