New Delhi: Havas Group India on Wednesday announced the appointment of Rana Barua as chief executive effective immediately. In his new role, Barua’s mandate will be to chart Havas India’s journey of transformation with a focus on collaboration and partnerships, new business momentum, and building future-ready teams.
He will report to Vishnu Mohan, chairman and chief executive of Havas Group, India and Southeast Asia, and work closely with the existing leadership teams.
Commenting on the appointment, Mohan said, “Rana’s appointment is a key milestone in the group’s ongoing efforts to build agile teams and integrated structures to deliver the most impact for clients. Rana is an ideal candidate as his expertise will build on what we have already achieved in India and take Havas Group India forward in its next phase of growth and expansion. Not only will his leadership strengthen our integrated product but also facilitate the collaboration between Havas Group and other Vivendi companies – Universal Music, GameLoft, Dailymotion -- to create a powerful marketing force, unique only to Havas Group in the market.”
A marketing communications leader with over 22 years of experience, Barua has held CEO roles with advertising agencies such as Contract India and more recently Creativeland Asia.
He has also worked across agencies, including Ogilvy, RediffusionY&R, McCann, JWT and held leadership profiles in radio stations such as Red FM and Radio City.
“The growing complexity of platforms and channels calls for a multi-dimensional approach to marketing and advertising and the Havas Village model of collaboration and integration is exactly what clients are looking for. I am extremely excited to be a part of Havas Group’s futuristic agency model and looking forward to working with the team to start a new chapter for Havas Group in India,” said Barua.
Founded in 1835 in Paris, the Havas Group employs 20,000 people in over 100 countries. In India, the company has been operating for over 10 years, handling clients such as HDFC Bank, RB India, Max Life Insurance and IBM among others.