Havas Group restablishes in Vietnam ops with Alexandre Sompheng as group CEO

Havas Group has re-established its fully owned village operations in Vietnam as Havas Group Vietnam, with Alexandre Sompheng taking the helm as group CEO. Havas Group Vietnam will therefore house the following businesses for the group: Havas Creative, Havas Media, Havas Health, RED Havas (PR) and Ekino.

Sompheng has been with Havas for a decade, and most recently served as the village's digital arm's operations manager in Vietnam for Ekino. In his new role, he will be responsible for all aspects of the business operations and championing the group’s vision.

Speaking about his new role, Alexandre Sompheng (pictured left) said, “This is indeed an exciting opportunity to extend our future-forward vision. Our Havas Village model of collaboration and integration is exactly what clients are looking for. Our local and regional teams provide quality service at international standards for our clients, making Havas a force to reckon with in the Vietnamese market as well as in SEA.”

Leading the operations alongside him will be Thanh Bui (pictured right), who has been appointed as the managing director for the agency. With over 15 years of experience working across large client portfolios, Bui will be responsible for leading integrated solutions, strategic client management and new business for the agency.

"Havas’ Village offering is truly unique and allows us to be innovative, agile to adapting business challenges and create the most meaningful experiences as well as drive growth for our clients. I am extremely excited to be part of the team and looking forward to taking Havas Vietnam to its next phase of growth and expansion,” said Thanh Bui.

Alberto Canteli, CEO and chairman Havas Group, Nordics & Middle East, SEA and North Asia said, “Our success as a network is determined by the strength of our people and leadership. Vietnam is a significantly important and growing market. Alexandre and Thanh have the proven expertise coupled with extremely strong leadership skills to build on what we have within the network and will help to set us up for renewed success.”

In Asia, Havas Group also acquired China-based creative agency Front Networks, which specialises in social and digital marketing. Following the acquisition, Front Networks will integrate into the Havas Creative network. According to Havas Group, Front Networks' digital storytelling can help clients create engaging digital content and channel mapping.

On the global front, Havas Group is staking its claim in the metaverse with a plot of virtual land in The Sandbox video game where it plans to inaugurate its first virtual Village. Using programming, exclusive content, connected animation and gamification, the Group will organise conferences, events, concerts, client presentations, product launches and more.

Related articles:
Meet the CEOs: Havas Media HK's Andrew Cawte
Havas Immerse Malaysia makes slew of senior promotions
DDB Group and Havas Media SG win big at #MARKiesAwards 2022
Havas Media Group names eCommerce lead in line with new offering