These appointments reflect the agency’s sharp trajectory over the last six years – marked by sustained growth, a strengthened regional footprint, and a growing portfolio of global and local brands.

In her new role as CEO, Dana Tahir will continue to lead the agency’s regional vision while deepening its commitment to creative innovation, client impact and talent development. Dana has been with the agency for over 17 years, most recently as Managing Director, where she played a central role in scaling the business and cultivating an award-winning team culture.

Rishi Talwalker has been promoted to Head of Communications, overseeing the agency’s corporate-consumer portfolio while leading strategy and growth. Razan Karim also steps into the role of Head of Communications, taking the lead on fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and wellness clients across the region.

HAVAS Red Middle East today partners with some of the world’s most influential companies, including Estée Lauder, COTY, adidas, Nakheel, Disney+ MENA, Spotify MENA, Gold Apple, Marriott International, Versace, Tom Ford, Pampers Arabia, and Dubai Holding, delivering bold, meaningful work across industries and sectors.

Last week, Havas PR Middle East announced its rebranding into Red Havas Middle East. Communicate decided to reach out to Dana Tahir, General Manager of Red Havas Middle East (Left) and James Wright, Global Chairman of the Havas PR Global Collective and Global CEO of Red Havas (Right) to learn the reasons behind the rebrand and how it'll change in the way they operate.

What is the reason for the rebranding of Havas PR?

Dana Tahir: Moving away from a traditional PR agency, Red Havas brings new verticals and new areas of expertise, connecting our clients to a strong global network of like-minded Red Havas agency hubs and an array of new services.

Moving forward, we will continue to blend traditional and digital publishing, content, social media and data and place that offering at the heart of our PR strategies. PR will now integrate seamlessly across content types to adapt to the media consumption of today’s consumers.

How are you changing the way you operate as part of the rebranding process?

DT: By becoming part of Red Havas, we’re adopting its Merged Media strategic model, which will further strengthen our PR services and plug us into powerful content, social media and data capabilities, not to mention the local expertise of Red Havas offices globally.

In other words, now we’ll be better able to make a meaningful difference for the brands we work with. This rebrand is happening in the name of streamlining and enhancing what we do—and that includes making us more efficient and cost-effective for clients.

The rebranding complements the Village model, further integrating all disciplines under one roof and truly building a client-centric model. Furthermore, it also opens the door for us to recruit new talent from the region in the fields of data, content creation, social media and more.

Could you share more about the Red Havas global micro-network? When was it formed? What is the reason for forming it? What's its differentiating qualities?

James Wright:  Red Havas is the world’s first Merged Media agency, integrating earned, social and experiential capabilities with content at the heart. The launch of the new micro network in 2019 aimed to better integrate the Havas global PR offering by combining two of the group’s leading PR brands. At launch, Red Agency APAC offices including Australia, Singapore and the Philippines took on the new branding at the same time as Havas PR offices in North America.

Today, Red Havas has offices in Australia (Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney), United States (Chicago, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, New England and New York City), United Kingdom (London, Surrey and Manchester), France, Germany, Italy, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam. The Dubai launch comes fast on the heels of the agency announcing the launch of Red Havas Health, a global micro-network focused on health, in response to increasing demand from clients globally. 

Red Havas is part of the Havas PR Global Collective, a team of 1,300 consultants across 40 offices.

The master plan is not to fold all of these agencies into the Red Havas network. We have many agencies that are highly specialized and plan to stay that way, and others for whom a rebrand simply doesn’t make sense. Our Merged Media approach to communications is at the heart of the Red Havas brand so we need to find the right partners who can deliver on this offering and help build upon our global Redster culture.

As for the idea of a “micro-agency network,” we wanted to be sure our agencies weren’t linked in name only. We want to stay lean enough that not only will we stay nimble, but we’ll stay invested in one another’s successes—personally and professionally. The idea is to have a group of expert colleagues on every continent who we know well enough that there’s no hesitation to pick up the phone and ask for advice—minding the time zone differences of course

“Welcoming Red Havas Middle East to our network represents a key milestone for the group as we’re increasingly seeing the region become a strategic priority for both current clients and new business,” says James Wright, Global Chairman of the Havas PR Global Collective and Global CEO of Red Havas. “From retail and technology to tourism and hospitality, the breadth of opportunity in the Middle Eastern economies is staggering. We’re delighted to enrich our full-service global PR offering with the expert talent at Red Havas Dubai.”

Red Havas brings together agencies from Havas’ global PR group with the goal to provide clients greater access to best-in-class thinking and opportunity for seamless expansion into key markets.

Dana Tahir, General Manager of Red Havas Middle East, says, “Red Havas has already delivered on its brand promise as a transformational micro-agency network helping to redefine PR and its value to clients. By rebranding under the Red Havas banner and adopting the Merged Media model, we’re better able to bring the future of PR and communications to our clients — and to kick open the doors of the Middle East and North Africa to Red Havas clients everywhere.”

Dany Naaman, CEO of Red Havas Middle East, adds, “Established in 2005, our PR team continues to go from strength to strength and has recently announced a range of new business wins with leading global brands. The Merged Media proposition of Red Havas enables us to further strengthen our PR vertical without losing the advantage of integration. Along with the powerful content, social media, and data capabilities that exist within our Middle East village, we’ll now bring a more streamlined, efficient, and cost-effective solution to making a meaningful difference for our clients.”

The Dubai rebrand comes fast on the heels of the introduction of Red Havas Health, a global micro-network focused on health to meet increasing demand from clients globally.

Red Havas is part of the Havas PR Global Collective, the PR and communications arm of the Havas Group that comprises approximately 40 agencies around the world and more than 1,300 employees.