Havas Media Group has formed HMG North America’s Activation division. This new entity will bring together data, analytics & martech and investment disciplines in NA into one collaborative and integrated team led by Mike Bregman who’s been elevated to the role of chief activation officer.
This new division will benefit HMG’s clients by more holistically infusing data & technology into the agency’s proprietary Mx planning, communications, and measurement approach. It also creates a foundation for operational excellence and optimum execution across the Mx System, delivering on HMG’s brand promise of creating more meaningful media experiences for consumers.
“As we look towards the future with an innovation mindset, we’re continuing to strengthen our data and investment capabilities in-house,” said Greg Walsh, CEO, HMG North America. “Our activations must be data led, agile and accountable. This is just formalizing what we know already, data and investment are inextricably linked. Under Mike’s leadership, we’ve made tremendous strides evolving and elevating our data offering and tech ecosystem. I look forward to the benefits one collaborative team will unlock for our people, clients, and partners across North America.”
Bregman joined HMG in May 2021 as chief data officer for North America, where he focused on elevating the agency’s data capabilities and building the most effective and efficient technology ecosystem. Under his leadership the team has focused on three key areas: (1) ethically collecting and harmonizing the most valuable industry, client and consumer data, (2) creating predictive and prescriptive models to identify and optimize the most meaningful audiences and touchpoints, and (3) securing partnerships with best-in class data, measurement, and technology partners to help build out product offerings and develop campaigns that drive success. Prior to joining HMG, Bregman was with Accenture as global managing director, leading customer, marketing, and sales analytics within Accenture’s Applied Intelligence unit. In his role, he was responsible for evolving the unit’s offerings and innovative go-to-market strategy across 20 regions.
“No doubt, investment and data are interchangeable and inextricably linked. This newly integrated team will ensure we activate in an agile, outcome-driven way while also ensuring better cross-channel coordination across the organization,” said Bregman. “It will also fuel our future-forward innovation agenda as we leverage machine learning, automation, AI and tech to evolve our strategic offering.”
This is the latest in HMG NA’s transformation and comes at a time when Havas Media Group is experiencing growth and momentum following the recent acquisition of Vancouver-based digital agency and data consultancy Noise Digital. To help fuel HMG’s future-forward innovation around data and technology, the agency has increased partnerships with industry leading collaborators such as Samba TV, Adelaide, LiveRamp, PubMatic, OpenX, FreeWheel, and more in order to provide impactful, unique solutions for clients, while also improving how the agency drives brand results across planning, activation, performance and measurement.
