Havas Expands Its Integrated New Business Team with Two New Senior Hires

Havas, the only truly integrated marketing and communications company in the UK, has bolstered its group-wide new business team with the appointment of two additional new business directors.

Lucinda Johnson joins from Omnicom Media Group UK, where she was marketing and new business director, to work across Havas’ media agencies, while Will Hooker joins from AMV BBDO, where he was senior new business account director, to work across Havas’ creative agencies.

In these new roles, the pair have been tasked with leading and driving Havas’ new business strategy and process, from lead generation through to pitch conversion, across its media and creative agencies respectively. Johnson will report into Matt Adams, CEO UK & Ireland, Havas Group Media, and Tracey Barber, Global CMO, Havas Creative Group, while Hooker will report into Barber.

These appointments increase the size of Havas UK’s integrated new business team, which is responsible for new business across all of its UK agencies, following Barber’s promotion to Global CMO, Havas Creative, earlier this year. In this role, she now oversees new business across the Havas Creative agency network worldwide, including Arnold, as well as the UK Group as a whole.

At Omnicom Media Group UK, Johnson headed up marketing strategy and business development across the group’s specialist services, as well as driving new business best practice across its four UK agencies.

She has 17 years’ industry experience, with expertise in business development, marketing, media strategy and project management. Prior to joining Omnicom Media Group UK, she held positions at a diverse range of companies including Starcom, MediaCom, Rocket, Weve, Microsoft and Posterscope.

Hooker joined AMV BBDO in 2015, where he worked as an account director across accounts including Camelot, The Economist and Pepsi, before transitioning to its new business team in 2018. Prior to this, he spent two years at Saatchi & Saatchi, working across accounts including Toyota, Direct Line and Weight Watchers.

Tracey Barber, Global CMO, Havas Creative Group, said: “I’m very pleased to welcome Lucinda and Will to the business. Both bring a huge wealth of knowledge, rooted in their experiences at some really strong agencies, as well as a clear ability to apply pitch best practice at a broader Havas Village level.”

Havas received Campaign’s New Business Development Team of the Year award in March of this year.