Havas Entertainment to Take Culture-First Creative Media Worldwide as Arena Media UK

Havas Media Network UK launched Havas Entertainment in 2021 to create a fully integrated agency with a mission to help culture-first brands outperform the competition. Following rapid growth and client international expansion, the agency now has its eyes set on carving out new opportunities for clients who need global culture-first creative media solutions. 

Today, Havas Entertainment will rebrand in the UK as Arena Media UK, becoming the UK arm of Havas Group’s global ‘agents of change for growth’ agency network. The integrated media agency will sit at the intersection of culture and entertainment, uniting brands and people through meaningful connections and experiences that get brands more liked, more talked about and more shared to deliver fast commercial growth.  

Since being founded, Havas Entertainment quadrupled its billings by 2025, driven by consolidations (SEGA, Bethesda) and wins including Bumble, Dr. Martens, Remy Cointreau, Penguin and Red Bull. The agency has also been recognised at the Media Week Awards, Campaign Tech Awards, Circle Awards, Short Awards, among others. Against this backdrop, the evolution into Arena Media UK is the next phase of the agency’s trajectory.  

In joining the Arena Media family, the agency will be better able to deliver integrated solutions and campaigns for local and global disruptor brands that want to defy the conventions of the category they operate within. The alignment with the global Arena Media Network also provides clients access to 1500 people globally to help clients live in culture anywhere in the world – all delivered from its 100-person strong agency in the UK office.  

Alongside the new name, Arena Media UK will be guided by its strategic ‘we have zero clients, only partners’ philosophy, which signals the importance of brilliant collaboration in today’s increasingly complex media world. Arena Media UK will be bringing to life its philosophy through an OOH advertising campaign that’ll include a hero billboard in Leicester Square and digital and print billboards around St Pancras and other tactical locations.  

Arena Media UK will sit in Havas Media Network UK where it will have full access to the media network’s capabilities and scale. Supporting the wider Havas Converged strategy, Arena will also collaborate with the wider UK Village to produce cross functional comms solutions for its clients. Managing director Hamid Habib, who has been with Havas Entertainment since it launched, and newly-promoted deputy managing director Jen Ray will lead Arena Media UK.   

Hamid Habib said, “If you want an agency that only stays in the media lane there are plenty out there; that’s not us. We continue to be a boutique agency but with the network backing which means we are doing some of the most creative media work in the market today whilst building bespoke tools and tech. We get as excited by the rigour as we do the flair and believe joining the Arena Media family can unlock growth for us and the brands we work with. It’s exciting times.” 

Patrick Affleck, CEO, Havas Media Network UK & Ireland, said, “After an incredible three years of rapid commercial and reputational growth, I’m pleased to see the agency evolve into what is a new, fresh and reimagined Arena Media, which is a huge opportunity for our clients, people and partners alike as we look to create ideas and solutions that break new ground and disrupt the category in which our clients operate. Hamid and Jen Ray’s complimentary talents will help take this Agency to the next level.”