Havas Group appoints CEO and MD in Vietnam

Havas Group has appointed Alexandre Sompheng as CEO in Vietnam. This follows the group’s move earlier this year to end its partnership with its local affiliate and re-establishing its full-service Village offering. Havas Group in Vietnam is now fully-owned by the group and will house Havas Creative, Havas Media, Havas Health, Red Havas, and Ekino.

Sompheng has been part of Havas for over a decade, previously overseeing the operations for Ekino, Havas’ digital arm. Prior to Ekino, Sompheng held multiple roles at Digitas in France. His extended remit as group CEO will see him being responsible for all aspects of business operations and championing the group’s vision.

He said on his new role, “This is indeed an exciting opportunity to extend our future-forward vision. Our Havas Village model of collaboration and integration is exactly what clients are looking for.”

Meanwhile, Thanh Bui has been appointed as managing director for the agency. She has over 15 years of experience in the industry and will be responsible for leading integrated solutions, strategic client management, and new business for the agency. Prior to this, she was CMO at Shynh Group.

Alberto Canteli, CEO and chairman at Havas Group, Nordics CEE & Middle East, SEA & NA, said, “Vietnam is a significantly important and growing market. Alexandre and Thanh have the proven expertise coupled with extremely strong leadership skills to build on what we have within the network and will help to set us up for renewed success.”