Laura Maness has been appointed to serve in the newly created role of president of Havas Worldwide New York, effective March 1. She will be responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the New York office, including managing key accounts, working to deliver integrated client solutions, and driving growth initiatives. Maness will report to Andrew Benett, global CEO, Havas Worldwide and Havas Creative Group.
Presently, Maness serves as chief growth officer of Havas Worldwide North America and managing director of the Chicago office. She has been one of the leading drivers in helping Havas Worldwide Chicago grow with recent new business wins including Sears’s Craftsman, DieHard and Kenmore brands, Kmart, Ragu, DISH Network, and most recently, Moen.
Maness will bring east some of Havas Worldwide Chicago’s innovative approaches to talent and culture building. Benett said: “Laura has been a key leader at Havas Worldwide Chicago, consecutively delivering stellar growth and innovation year after year for the agency and the North America network. Her commitment and collaborative spirit have helped lead the transformation of the Chicago Village. I’m thrilled to have her in New York.”
Maness joined Havas Worldwide in 2013 as U.S. chief growth officer from digital agency Propane Studio, where, as SVP, she led business development and marketing efforts. Prior to Propane, Maness helped to transform agencies such as FCB West and before that WPP/Wunderman-owned Designkitchen (now Blast Radius).
Weiss, Maleeny
Meanwhile Matt Weiss will take on a newly formed role as global chief revenue officer, in addition to his role as global chief marketing officer for Havas Worldwide, reporting directly to Benett. In this new dual role, Weiss will be responsible for marketing and revenue generation across the network, including accountability for driving better integration and alignment among all revenue-generating entities within the agency portfolio, and for developing unique properties to drive new revenue streams for the company.
Tim Maleeny will continue in his role as chief strategy officer, North America. He will continue to focus on driving a world-class strategy offering, in addition to the new responsibility of leading core strategic initiatives across North America. In this capacity, he will lead integrated teams focused on further evolving Havas’ strategic offering.
“I want to thank Matt and Tim for their contributions and extend well-deserved congratulations to Laura,” said Benett. “Since stepping into the roles of managing partners, Matt and Tim have made significant progress in areas of agency growth and collaboration. Laura will be continuing the transformation that Matt and Tim initiated in New York.”
Maness stated, ““Havas is on a tremendous upward trajectory, primarily due to our Village model and ‘Together’ strategy. I’m honored to lead the New York agency, and to drive a collaborative culture, both internally and externally.”
