Havas Announces Launch of Its Havas Village in Chicago

Havas announced today the official opening of Havas Village Chicago at its newly renovated, 81,000-square-foot offices in River North. The move further expands the global marketing and communications group’s model for integrated, full-service agencies incorporating media, creative, digital and other services. Chicago is the 26th Havas Village.

“The Havas Village model is designed to meet the evolving needs of our clients,” said Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO, Havas Group. “This concept is a competitive advantage for Havas, allowing us to collaborate across agencies and capabilities to provide the highest level of expertise and the most creative integrated offering possible. Our recent business results—and our clients’ satisfaction —speak for themselves. The ‘together’ strategy works, and we are looking forward to now bringing this model to the Chicago agency and its clients.”

Havas Village Chicago unites all of agency’s offerings under one roof, including Havas Worldwide Chicago and Havas Media Group, as well as specialty shops Havas helia for data, analytics and CRM; Havas Latino, experts in the burgeoning Hispanic-American consumer segment; Studio 6, the in-house content creation studio; Havas Impact, the promotional services group, and Havas ignition, a brand engagement and experiential agency.

“We believe this new Village structure will provide us with a true competitive advantage as we grow our Village client roster,” said Paul Marobella, CEO of Havas Worldwide Chicago Group. “Our end-to-end relationship with DISH is a prime example of the Havas Village concept in action. We manage the entire account—from strategy, creative, digital and social to print, digital and search media planning and buying radio and broadcast—all within the walls of our integrated Chicago Village. It is a proven operating model that enables simplicity, integration and innovation.”

The agency’s portfolio currently includes Chicago-based Craftsman, Kenmore, Diehard, Sears, Reynolds Wrap and Hefty Bags, along with major national brands such as Citi, DISH, AutoZone, Cracker Barrel, and Sony PlayStation.

The contemporary office space is designed by Gary Lee Partners and features 17-foot exposed ceilings, a winding staircase connecting the agency’s two floors, a “town hall” area for company gatherings with expandable bleachers, a broadcast studio, in-office bike racks, and custom art installations created by popular local artists, including Matthew Hoffman and JC Rivera. Notably missing from the floor plan are executive offices.

“By co-locating our 400+ employees across all disciplines in an open environment specifically designed for collaboration, we are able to offer clients creative agility, a streamlined operating model, and a data-driven, programmatic approach to creating content quickly and cost-effectively,” said Lori Hiltz, CEO, Havas Media, North America. “Our clients want best-in-class creative and content ideas powered by data and delivered at the speed of today’s consumers. The optimal way to do that is with media and creative working together to achieve real business goals.”