In the next decade, APAC will represent 40% of total growth in global health spending, expanding at a rate almost double that of the rest of the world – making both presence and investment in APAC more critical than ever. To help Havas Health & You (HH&Y) meet the needs of this exponential growth and of the global brands across their portfolio of clients, the network today announced the expansion of its Southeast Asia (SEA) Village, bringing the unique business model to bolster capabilities in the region. HH&Y has made significant investments in senior leadership to support this expansion; in particular, hiring Jini Mathai as Regional Business Strategy Director for SEA. With HH&Y’s growth in Asia at over 20% per annum, this move compliments its 2021 launch of a regional hub under the leadership of Susan Josi, Managing Director, SEA & Middle East (ME). Located in Singapore, Jini has nearly two decades of experience providing strategic guidance for clients across health specialties, and his expertise alongside Susan’s offers global and local health brands a range of much-needed capabilities across the region.
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APAC is home to almost 60% of our global population and includes some of the world’s most populous countries. It is also very diverse, characterized by changing demographic trends as well as rapid urbanization in most countries. As the population grows, the opportunities exist two-fold – firstly for global brands who want a fluent and meaningful presence across APAC, but also for regional brands looking to expand who would benefit from the breadth and size of the world’s largest health network in HH&Y.
“I’m excited to take forward this unique collaborative Village model which is ideal for a region experiencing such rapid innovation and change,” said Jini Mathai, Regional Business Strategy Director, HH&Y SEA. “The pandemic has been a catalyst for health brands to explore novel engagement models. HH&Y is well poised to cater to this through its rich experience in music, gamification and innovation which totally differentiates us as an agency. Our digital innovation lab is one of a kind and helps use scientific creativity to develop solutions for real unmet human needs. I look forward to unlocking this power of innovation through our Village model for our client partners in the region.”
This move further solidifies the activity of HH&Y across 9 countries in APAC – Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Korea, Japan, Greater China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The network is the market leader in China and Japan and is continuing to recruit in India, Singapore, and the Philippines to expand capabilities across these markets.
“Continued growth in the region means that the health world must unquestionably stay attuned to this growing pool of talent, incredible innovation and expansive population,” said Charles Houdoux, CEO APAC & LATAM, HH&Y. “Our unmatched expertise here offers brands both locally and globally tremendous opportunity, and with the partnership of Vivendi, Havas and our broader network, we are poised to continue to lead as we double down on our capabilities in digital transformation, multichannel engagement through data, content and much more.”