Helia promotes duo in hiring spree

Havas Helia, the agency which rebranded from Havas EHS last week, has rewarded two senior staff by promoting them to the board and creating its first chief data and digital officer role.
Ben Silcox (pictured, left), the new data and digital chief, joined the company in February 2013 as head of technology and data. Since then has led the data, analytics, technology and digital strategy for the agency, as well as heading up the Unilever account along with chief operating officer Matt Fanshawe.
Steven Bennett-Day (pictured, right) has also been promoted to executive creative director for all the agency’s UK operations; he joined in January 2014 as ECD for the London office.
Having joined from DraftFCB, he has expanded the creative division and been the driving force behind putting digital at the heart of the agency’s creative thinking.
In addition to the board appointments, Helia has also made 15 new hires across the data and creative divisions.
Fanshawe said: “Steven and Ben are both best-in-class in each of their respective fields, and it reflects our commitment to combining creative data and digital processes, in order to deliver the best possible campaigns for our clients.”
The appointments are designed to further strengthen the UK operation as chief executive Tash Whitmey and Fanshawe take on more of a global focus on the back of last week’s relaunch.
The new entity, which also includes the US agency Havas Discovery, combines all the group’s direct and data businesses and has eight offices around the world – including London, Chicago, New York, and Shanghai – and plans to expand to Sydney, Singapore, Sao Paulo and Cape Town later this year.
However, the revamp has already triggered the loss of the TSB account, just 18 months in. According to one report, the banking group was looking for greater support at its Bristol base and has consequently parted company.