Havas Red Nabs Laura Cario From Rival Edelman

Havas Red has announced Laura Cario as its new Managing Partner of Consumer and Brand, based out of its Havas Village in Sydney.

(Pictured above: Havas Red Consumer and Brand senior leadership team. Left to right -Kelly Lane, Shane Russell, Laura Cario, Georgia Thompson, Lauren Donohoe and Maurizio Ruiz)

Laura has joined Havas Red after seven years at Edelman Australia, where she led the brand, food, beverage, and tourism business.

Havas Red Australia CEO Shane Russell said Cario would help drive the agency’s ambitious local and regional growth plans, building on a year of record high client retention and the launch of new integrated services. “We’re laser-focused on our ‘borderless’ strategy which aims to help clients transcend channels, audiences, formats, and countries to seamlessly share their full stories. Laura fits perfectly into our system, bringing her knowledge of global consultancy and an impressive track record of implementing integrated PR, social, and marketing strategies,” Shane said.

Cario will oversee a team of nearly 20 PR and influencer specialists and a world-class roster of national and global brands across tourism and hospitality, lifestyle, FMCG, retail, fashion, and consumer technology. She also joins Red’s leadership bench and will partner with the agency’s social, health, corporate, technology, and experiential divisions in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

“It is a very exciting time to be joining Havas Red, given their momentum in the market and ambitious plans. I am so delighted that the next chapter of my career is at Havas Red working with Shane and leading the successful Consumer and Brand team; delivering impactful and effective integrated work with earned storytelling at the centre,” Laura said. “I admire Havas Red’s unique agency model and creative culture, with its inspiring and clever team spanning PR, social, and experiential”.

With 16 years’ industry experience, Laura most recently led key accounts including Dubai Economy and Tourism, Snapchat, Scoot Airlines, Frucor Suntory, Fonterra, Crown Resorts, and Bioderma.

Laura’s appointment caps an exciting revamp of Red’s Consumer and Brand leadership team, which included promotions of long-time Havas stars to further elevate its creative and integrated offering:

Ourhai Tower promoted to executive director
Georgina Thompson promoted to client services director
Tom Manning promoted to national creative director
Lauren Donohoe promoted to senior account director
Mauricio Ruiz promoted to senior account director

“Our formula for growth is quite simple. We’ll continue to nurture, elevate, and hire incredible talent, giving them the tools and resources to deliver the most impactful work for our clients,” Shane added.

Havas Red has announced a number of major client wins this year, including the global PR brief for Tourism Tasmania that is hubbed from Australia, the national consumer and lifestyle account for Accolade Wines, and Red’s sister agency Havas Blvd picking up lifestyle PR duties for Lexus, among others. Red also launched its expanded influencer offering, SWAY by Havas Red, from Australia which has now rolled out in 14 markets globally.

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