Havas Media Network Elevates Jon Waite to Global Head of Planning

As Global EVP, Planning, Waite will develop tech enabled capabilities, cross-functional processes and collaborative research to create media experiences that encompass the entire customer journey.

Today, Havas Media Network promotes Jon Waite to Global EVP, Planning, a new role that collaborates across Havas’ Converged ecosystem to chart the future of planning and build better media experiences for clients.

In his new remit, Waite leads Havas Media Network’s planning discipline, bridging the network’s depth of strategic intelligence and activation prowess to enable clients to connect with consumers in the most engaging context with content that captures attention and drives action. Jon will champion a cohesive approach to planning for Havas Media Network across each point of consumer interaction, fully leveraging the agency network’s rapidly growing new core services in commerce (Havas Market), activation (Havas Play), and data & tech (CSA).

Jon has been an invaluable counselor to clients across the world in leveraging cutting-edge tools, data and capabilities to create media experiences that deliver against their specific business and brand objectives. As our Converged strategy builds even more strategic bridges between creativity, media, production, and technology, I’m excited for Jon to collaborate further across the Havas ecosystem, sharing planning best practices across disciplines to seamlessly deliver for clients around the world.

Joanna Lawrence

Global Chief Strategy Officer, Havas Media Network

Waite joined Havas Media Network in 2021, leading the media network’s approach to in-channel planning and media measurement. During his tenure, Jon developed a first-of-its-kind global partnership with Lumen Research to create bespoke tools to plan, measure, buy and optimize attention. By deploying bespoke tools to maximize media effectiveness, sustainability, and brand suitability into the agency network’s proprietary audience planning platform, Havas Media Network became the first agency network to implement attention data into planning tools on a global scale. As Global EVP, Planning, Waite will build on this experience to elevate existing partnerships and explore new collaborations that direct clients’ media investment to more attentive and effective media exposures that resonate with consumers across the path to purchase.

I’m hugely excited to work together with leaders across our organization and industry to continue to develop a best-in-class planning discipline for Havas Media Network that fuels our clients’ growth and sets a benchmark for excellence in how our profession addresses the critical issues facing it today.

Jon Waite

Global EVP, Planning, Havas Media Network

As an industry-leading voice on attention-based planning, Waite has collaborated with Lumen Research and Brand Metrics on pioneering research into the connection between attention and brand outcomes and has contributed perspective on the state of attention to WARC and publications from renowned media science researcher Dr. Karen Nelson-Field. In his elevated remit, Waite will lead new evidence-based research in collaboration with industry luminaries and will work directly with clients in designing their bespoke approach to media planning.

About Havas Media Network: 

Havas Media Network is the media experience agency. Havas Media Network delivers this brand promise through the Mx System, where meaningful media helps build more meaningful brands. Havas Media Network is part of Havas, one of the world’s largest integrated content, media and communications groups. Havas Media Network also consists of two global media networks: Havas Media and Arena Media. The media experience agencies are home to specialists across 150 countries worldwide, with 73 Villages. Clients include BBC, Canal+, Credit Agricole, Dolce & Gabbana, EDF, Fidelity Investments, Grupo Carso, Hyundai, JDE, Kia, Leroy Merlin, Lidl, PNC Bank, Puma, Reckitt Benckiser, Red Bull, Sanofi, Shell, Telefonica, YUM Brands, among many others. For more information, visit the website or follow Havas Media Network on LinkedIn @Havas Media Network or Instagram @havas_media_network.  