Havas has acquired experiential agency experiential agency Bearded Kitten.
Bearded Kitten currently works closely with brands such as Netflix, Unilever, L’Oreal and Twitch, as well as a nuber of existing Havas Media Network UK clients, including Red Bull, Pokemon and Disney.
Bearded Kitten will stengthen Havas Play with specialist expertise in immersive experience design, prop making and theatrical production, alongside deep sector knowledge spanning entertainment, retail and luxury.
Bearded Kitten will be rebranded as ‘Bearded Kitten, part of Havas Play and will continue to operate on its current premises. Bearded Kitten’s founder Barney Sutton will join the Havas Play leadership team reporting to Havas Play CEO Nick Wright.
Yannick Bollore, chairman and CEO, Havas said: “Bearded Kitten consistently ranks among the top experiential agencies worldwide. We are thrilled to welcome Barney Sutton and the entire team at Bearded Kitten to the Havas family. Their creativity, craft and proven track record will help us capitalise on the experiential marketing boom. The acquisition of Bearded Kitten is a statement of our ambition to scale our Havas Play offering globally.”
Nick Wright, CEO of Havas Play UK added: “Experiential has always been front and centre in our offering and with Bearded Kitten now part of the team, we can supercharge and scale this even further. Their arrival unlocks bigger, bolder ideas driven by integrated thinking and seamless delivery through one fully connected team. With Bearded Kitten’s award-winning experiential craft and robust in-house production capabilities, we can deliver best-in-class brand experiences at the heart of intergrated campaigns across every brief.”
Barney Sutton, now CEO of Bearded Kitten, part of Havas Play, said: “From our first conversations with Havas, we knew it was the right fit. We’ve been particularly selective about potential partners, but Havas Play instantly felt like the missing piece. We’re still very much Bearded Kitten, the same people and culture, but now with the scale and resourced of Havas Play behind us.”