Havas Media has acquired a stake in the Dublin based media agency GT Media. The enlarged entity will be known as Havas Media Ireland. Graham Taylor, the founder of GT Media, will become the new CEO.
The move comes as part of an investment programme from Havas Media Group in Europe following its recent international wins for Disney, Iglo Group, LG Electronics and Emirates.
GT Media was established by Graham Taylor in 1983 with key clients including Colortrend Paints, De Care, Dyson, Honda, Lifes2Good, Nordmende and Low Cost Holidays.
The two agencies have been working together informally since 2012 with GT Media managing Havas Media Group’s international clients in the Irish market. These include Betfair, Clarks, Birds Eye, Emirates, Hyundai/Kia and KLM. Under the new deal Taylor will become CEO of Havas Media Ireland and the senior team at GT Media will continue to play key roles in the future of the business. The newly formed company will be based at Havas Ireland’s offices on Leeson Street.
According to Graham Taylor, Havas Media Ireland will offer clients a wide range of services in data, content, mobile, social and trading, as well as access to the group’s “Meaningful Brands” suite of research and tools.
“We are delighted to strengthen our relationship with Havas Media Group and it’s great news for both our staff and clients. We believe the time is right for a new kind of agile and forward thinking media agency in Ireland. We also know that the Irish market has responded well to our mission to unite brands and people through meaningful connections and drive business success for our clients,” says Taylor.
Commenting on the new partnership, Dominique Delport, Chairman of Havas Media Group UK said: “We have been working with GT Media for a number of years now and have been very impressed with the synergies in our management style. It’s been great to see first-hand how the team has shared our focus on speed and agility which are essential traits needed to help our clients leverage the rapid changes in our industry. Thanks to Graham and his team we have a clear and strong local strategy which is now formally supported by our centralised investments and global operations in data, content and technology.”
Clients demand a 21st century media agency and Havas Media Group has world class research tools and resources available, especially with regards to innovations that deliver specialist expertise to promote more effective management of content and data. With this new way of working we believe that Havas Media Ireland will be the agency of choice for ambitious forward thinking clients who are responding to the increasing need for more responsive integrated communications solutions.”
