EURO RSCG CHAIRMAN-CEO RESIGNS

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Following a series of management changes in its senior-most ranks in the past two months, French advertising holding company Havas today In a statement issued this morning from Havas headquarters in Suresnes, France, CEO Philippe Wahl said that a new international management team will replace Mr. Heekin. 'Pursue other opportunities' The Havas statement said Mr. Heekin "will pursue other opportunities in the industry." Mercedes Erra, chairman of Euro RSCG France and president of BETC Euro RSCG, and Stephane Fouks, CEO of Euro RSCG France and Euro RSCG C&C, are now executive co-chairmen of Euro RSCG Worldwide. David Jones, head of Euro RSCG Worldwide, New York, becomes CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide and Remi Babinet, president and creative director of BETC Euro RSCG, becomes chief creative officer of Euro RSCG Worldwide. The appointments are effective immediately. The departure of Mr. Heekin, 55, was expected. A former CEO of Interpublic Group of Cos.' McCann Erickson WorldGroup, he joined Euro RSCG Worldwide in September 2003 as president and chief operating officer. He was promoted to CEO in January 2004, replacing Robert Schmetterer, who retired. Reorganization of Havas Following the boardroom battle that led to the ouster of Havas' chairman-CEO, Alain de Pouzilhac, by new chairman Vincent Bollore, there has been much industry speculation that Mr. Heekin would leave. Industry rumors have Mr. Heekin in talks with WPP Group's Grey Global Group, but none of the parties have confirmed that. The ascendancy of Ms. Erra, Mr. Fouks, Mr. Jones and Mr. Babinet to the top posts at Euro has also been widely speculated about in the European press. Each member of Euro's new leadership team has tight connections to key Euro clients or are veterans of the loosely knit Havas network. The latter issue is important because the holding company's top executives -- Mr. Bollore and Mr. Wahl -- are new to the company. Mercedes Erra Ms. Erra of BETC Euro RSCG is well known in advertising circles in France, where her Paris agency is regarded as a great creative shop. She works closely with marketers Danone, Evian, Cadbury Schweppes, L'Oreal, Orange, Sara Lee (Playtex-Wonderbra) and Canal Group. Mr. Babinet, president and creative director of BETC Euro RSCG, has worked at the agency since its launch in 1994 and contributed to its reputation as a creative powerhouse. Stephane Fouks Mr. Fouks has been a Euro RSCG Worldwide executive since 1988, when he co-founded corporate communications consultancy RSCG Public. He served as the CEO until 1995, when it merged with Euro RSCG Consultants and became Euro RSCG Institutional, where he remained CEO. In 1999 Euro RSCG Institutional and Hiex Reus Patner merged to form Euro RSCG Corporate. In 2001 he initiated a cross-working relationship between Euro RSCG Corporate and Euro RSCG Omnium, which then became Euro RSCG C&O. Mr. Fouks has also been a consultant to numerous French government officials. David Jones David Jones, a British citizen, became CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide's flagship New York office in September 2004. He was a key player in Euro's win of the global Jaguar ad account and the North American Charles Schwab account, two pieces of business that bolstered the agency after the departure of Intel, one of its largest accounts. Mr. Jones has held top positions for Euro RSCG in London (as executive vice president and managing director of global business, where he led all of Euro RSCG's 42 multinational clients,) and as global brand director for Reckitt Benckiser. In 1999, while only 32, he was named CEO of Euro RSCG Partnership Australia. Remi Babinet MR. Babinet is president and chief creative officer of BETC Euro RSCG. The agency was co-founded by Mr. Babinet and Eric Tong Cuong in 1994. He began his career in Paris in 1986 as a creative copywriter at BDDP -- the agency co-founded by Jean Marie Dru, TBWA Worldwide's president-CEO, who was unsucessfully courted by Mr. Vincent Bollore in June for the CEO role.

EURO RSCG CHAIRMAN-CEO RESIGNS

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