An interesting piece of news today from Maitland owner Havas, which is going to spend 100 million euros in the next five years building a global network of PR companies.
The gist is that Havas thinks clients are increasingly worried about digital acceleration, media fragmentation and political uncertainty.
They want a global solution to these issues; one PR adviser with operations across the world. So Havas’s AMO advisory network that spans 51 countries will become much more closely integrated.
Chief executive Yannick Bollore said there will be some acquisitions as part of a drive to offer clients a “more consistent” approach to PR wherever they are doing business.
The clients will get one bill though, not one per country. Havas is putting its PR operations front and centre, rather than hiding them in the attic, as others are accused of doing.
Perhaps this is a sign that financial PR really is big business these days.
How should rivals Finsbury and Brunswick react to this development? “With fear,” says Maitland boss Neil Bennett.
He’s joking. A bit.
