Havas Media Group is the media division of the global marketing and communications group

Havas Havas NV () is a French multinational corporation, multinational advertising agency, advertising and public relations company, with its registered office and head office in Puteaux, France. Havas operates in more than 100 countries. The group ...

. It incorporates the media assets of Havas, which includes predominantly entities which were formerly known as Media Planning Group (MPG). MPG was created in March 1999 as the result of a merger between Media Planning founded in 1978, and Médiapolis, founded in 1980. The two agencies offer communication, media strategy and management services to its clients. It operates mainly in Western Europe and the Americas.

History

MPG was created in 1999 as the result of a merger between two media agencies: Media Planning S.A. founded in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1978 by Leopoldo Rodés Castañes which covered the Hispanic markets, and Médiapolis, a French company founded in 1980 by Havas Advertising. Havas initially acquired a 45% holding in MPG, which increased to 100% in May 2001.

Fernando Rodés Vilà Fernando Rodés Vilà (born 1 August 1960, in Barcelona) is a businessman specialised in marketing, communications and sustainability, and invests and manages companies operating in those fields. Fernando is currently vice chairman of Havas (tick ...

, who joined Media Planning S.A in 1994, was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Havas in March 2006. In October 2006, Havas announced that all its media assets would be reorganised under the

umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...

of "Havas Media" and Alfonso Rodes Vila, brother of Fernando, was named CEO in July 2006. In June 2022, Havas Media Group Announced their global partnership with attention firm Lumen Research which will create tools to plan, measure, buy, and optimize attention.

Controversy

In June 2009, Havas Media Group was criticized by the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

for firing 11% of their staff and only giving workers a four-week severance package. The union initiated a campaign to get their biggest client,

Sears Holdings Corporation Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th- ...

, to stop using MPG by protesting outside of

Kmart Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and Territories of the United States, its territories. It operates four remaining Kma ...

stores. MPG has not publicly commented on the dispute. In July 2024, four Havas companies had their B Corp status revoked because of their work on behalf of Shell Oil, which ran afoul of the certification's environmental standards.

References

{{Havas Advertising agencies of France

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...