Havas Media Group has named Damien Marchi to serve as its global head of content. The news follows the Group’s recent launch of the Global Music Data Alliance with Universal Music Group and its partnership with content marketing platform NewsCred.
Marchi has over 15 years experience specializing in cross platform content production, commercialization and marketing in TV and digital, across entertainment, drama and news. He has lived and worked in France, the U.K. and Sweden working at local, EMEA and global levels and led digital adaptations for shows such as The X Factor, Got Talent, Idols (FremantleMedia), Big Brother and Star Academy (Endemol). He has worked with brands such as RedBull, Air France, P&G and L’Oréal.
Marchi is an Emmy Award winner (2006) which he gained while working for the production company Streampower in Paris on its interactive TV programme CULT. He also holds two Banff Awards (2010, 2011) for his time with FremantleMedia in London for producing online originals Freak, the U.K.’s biggest teen drama of that year, and SortedFood which became the U.K.’s largest cooking community on YouTube. He also works as an advisor to the United Nations advising UNRIC, its Western European information bureau on digital communications.
Prior to joining Havas, Marchi was a member of the executive committee of Euronews, a news channel in Europe, in charge of Innovation and Products and championing the digital transformation of the newsroom.
In addition, he drove FremantleMedia and Euronews to become respectively the worlds’ number one production company and news network on YouTube.
Dominique Delport, global managing director of Havas Media Group, said, “2015 will be the year of content for Havas. We are going to innovate at scale and it’s already started thanks to our friends at Universal and NewsCred. Multi device content marketing runs through Damien’s veins. He has always been at the forefront of global developments in content, working on some of the world’s most talked about shows. Data and content is at the core of what we do and Damien is a true all-rounded digital innovator. There is no doubt that he will help lead our teams through what will be an incredibly fast and interesting time for Havas and its clients in this space”.
Marchi noted that “the global content market is at a turning point. On the one hand, business models in the industry are being seriously challenged and on the other hand, people have never had such as thirst for content. It’s an exciting time to be on the agency side–the historic meeting-place of stories, brands, platforms and producers.”
In line with the Group’s “Havas’ Village” approach to promote integration between its divisions, Marchi is working closely with Lucien Boyer, global CEO of Havas Sports & Entertainment, and Vin Farrell, global chief content officer for Havas Worldwide.
Marchi is based in the Havas Paris headquarters and reports directly to Delport.
