LONDON — Havas has rebranded AMO, its international group of strategic communications specialist agencies, as H/Advisors.

As a result of the rebrand, the agencies in the network will change their names; in the UK, strategic communications firm Maitland AMO and public affairs and public policy specialist Cicero AMO, who have a combined team of 120 people, become H/Advisors Maitland and H/Advisors Cicero respectively.

The AMO network was created in 2001 by Havas EVP Stéphane Fouks (pictured, centre), who continues to chair the rebranded group. Global co-CEOs Neil Bennett (left), the chief executive of Maitland AMO since 2010, and Tom Johnson (right), chief executive of Abernathy MacGregor/AMO in New York, will also continue in their roles after being appointed earlier this year.

Yannick Bolloré, CEO of the Havas Group and chairman of the supervisory board of parent company Vivendi, said: “The new name and brand identity highlight H/Advisors’ ambitions for the next chapter in its history. I am very proud to see how the network has delivered on the demanding growth plan we laid out in 2018. I have assured Stéphane, Tom and Neil that they have the full support of Havas and Vivendi as they pursue their mission of making H/Advisors the undisputed leader in global strategic communications worldwide.”

Bennett told PRovoke Media: “We’re delighted with the reception we’ve had from the launch of H/Advisors as the new identity for our global agency group. The AMO name serves us well for the past 20 years but didn’t reflect how much we’ve grown or who we are now. We chose the name carefully. The H stands for Havas, our parent company, which provides us with so much support. And ‘Advisors’ is who we are, providing strategic counsel to leading organisations on five continents.

“Today H/Advisors is a group of 1,400 consultants in more than 20 countries. And that’s just the start. We’ve set ourselves a target of growing to 2,000 consultants in the next two years and have a number of further acquisitions and investments in the pipeline. Our aim is to become the world’s leading strategic communications consultancy, helped by the strong backing of Havas and Vivendi, our ultimate parent.”

At H/Advisors Cicero, Mark Twigg, who was promoted to CEO in August this year, told PRovoke Media: “The creation of H/Advisors and rebranding of H/Advisors Cicero marks a huge milestone in our agency's journey. We're thrilled to be part of Havas' ambitious plans to create the world's leading corporate advisory business.

“Cicero was acquired by Havas in 2020 with an aim to drive the agency's growth via deep integration into the Havas global network.  Revenues have increased by around 40% in the last two years and we have very ambitious plans for 2023.  We see H Advisors as the next phase of that integration. It provides us with a major competitive advantage.”