NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Havas announced today that Matt Howell, Global Chief Digital Officer at Arnold Worldwide, will assume additional responsibility as Chief Digital Officer for Havas Creative. In this role, Matt will lead key digital strategic initiatives across Havas Creative agencies. "Matt is one of the most innovative digital leaders in the industry today," said Havas global CEO David Jones. "We're delighted to have him at the helm of our digital offering across Havas Creative. We have had a year of very strong digital growth and momentum driven by our unique model, where we have digital inside all of our companies around the world rather than in a silo. We are looking forward to having Matt continue the growth and innovation."

"The most rewarding thing has been to see our Havas Creative agencies competing and winning against pure-play digital shops," Jones added. Already global digital agency of record for Volvo, IBM, Unilever, and Intel Asus, Havas Worldwide's recent streak of new digital wins include global digital AOR for Hershey's, Unilever's global data business, and additional digital wins around the world including Danone, Expedia, Ibis, Lego, Nokia, and Sony PlayStation.

Arnold Worldwide has also performed very strongly, adding global responsibilities and winning the integrated AOR business for American Eagle Outfitters, Fab.com, University of Phoenix, and Kohler, all including heavy digital components.

Howell currently serves as Global Chief Digital Officer at Arnold Worldwide, where he leads digital teams across the network in fusing technology with marketing. Prior to Arnold, he was president at Modernista!, managed the Nike account at R/GA, and has worked in London, New York, Stockholm, and Boston. His work has taken top honors at Cannes, the Clios, and the One Show. He has also served on the Board of Directors at Boulder Digital Works at the University of Colorado.

"In the year and a half since I joined Arnold, I've had the honor to work with some truly talented and creative people," Howell said. "I'm thrilled to further expand my role within the Havas network, working with teams around the world and elevating our creative and digital strategic offering to our clients."

Howell's new position takes effect immediately. It comes on the back of the creation of the Havas Digital Leadership Group, which brings together the top 30 digital executives across the entire Havas network to drive innovation and synergies across creative, media, social, mobile, and data.

About Havas
Havas (Euronext Paris: HAV.PA) is one of the world's largest global advertising and communications services groups. Headquartered in Paris, Havas operates through its two Business Units, Havas Creative and Havas Media.

Havas Creative incorporates the Havas Worldwide (www.havasworldwide.com) network - formerly Euro RSCG Worldwide - (316 offices in 75 countries), the Arnold (www.arn.com) micronetwork (16 agencies in 15 countries on 5 continents), as well as other agencies with strong local identities.

Havas Media (www.havasmedia.com) operates in over 100 countries and incorporates the MPG, Arena Media, Havas Sports & Entertainment, and Havas Digital networks.

A multicultural and decentralized Group, Havas is present in more than 100 countries through its networks of agencies and contractual affiliations. The Group offers a broad range of communications services, including digital, advertising, direct marketing, media planning and buying, corporate communications, sales promotion, design, human resources, sports marketing, multimedia interactive communications, and public relations. Havas employs approximately 15,000 people. Further information about Havas is available on the company's website: www.havas.com

About Arnold Worldwide
Arnold is a global communications company and one of the top five most creatively awarded agencies of the past decade. We are proud to represent a diverse portfolio of clients, including Aetna, American Eagle Outfitters, Carnival Cruise Lines, CVS/pharmacy, Dell, Fidelity Investments, The Hershey Company, Huntington Bank, Jack Daniel's, Kohler, McDonald's, New Balance, Ocean Spray, Panasonic, Pearle Vision, Progressive, Sanofi-Aventis, Titleist, truth®, Tyson Foods, Unilever, University of Phoenix, Vertex, Volvo and many other great brands. Arnold delivers services across all communication touch points – advertising, digital, promotions, direct, design, branded content – and is part of Havas Creative with offices in Amsterdam, Boston, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Melbourne, Milan, Moscow, New York, Prague, São Paulo, Shanghai, Sydney, Toronto, and Washington DC. www.arnoldworldwide.com

Contact:
Lorella Gessa
Communications Director
Havas Group
+33 (01) 58 47 90 36
lorella.gessa@havas.com

Yvonne Bond
Global Communications Director
Havas Worldwide
(212) 886-2035
yvonne.bond@havasww.com

SOURCE Havas Worldwide