Leading PR, social and experiential agency, Red Agency and the Havas Village, has annouced the appointment of former Chieftain Communications founder Steve Fontanot (left in picture) as its new GM for Red Guerilla.

Fontanot will be tasked with continuing to deliver ‘best in class’ consumer engagement through innovative and authentic brand experiences.

A key part of Fontanot’s remit will be to build the brand experience and activation hub of the Havas Village, which in addition to Red Agency comprises Havas Media, Havas Worldwide and Havas Sports & Entertainment (HS&E).  

In particular Fontanot will work alongside Francis Coady, GM of the recently launched HS&E business, to develop the natural synergies between the two offers to drive further revenue opportunities. HS&E is focused on identifying strategic brand alignments, partnerships and collaborations within sport and entertainment to connect brands and consumers, with a mission to create some of Australia’s biggest and most dynamic marketing campaigns.

Fontanot brings a wealth of experience having worked with major brands like Samsung, Gumtree, eBay, Nestle, Telstra and Real Insurance, in addition to a number of government departments.  He will report to Red Agency Group CEO and Havas COO, James Wright.

Fontanot said: “I’m incredibly proud of leading Chieftain for almost eight years – the support from clients and the industry has been humbling. It’s time for my next chapter and I’m looking forward to leading brand experience across Red Agency and the Havas Village. I’ve worked with many of the team over the years and have been constantly impressed by their creative output and their dedication to building the Village model within Australia and globally.”

Red Agency Group CEO and Havas COO, James Wright (right in picture), said: “We have been making a number of strategic moves across the Havas Group to make us stronger this year and bringing in someone with the track-record and proven abilities of Steve is a good marker for our intentions to remain a leader.  Red Guerilla is still only two and a half years young and already on the map with its client base and the quality of work it has produced. We now need to scale across the Havas Village and having Steve on-board working closely across all our teams will help us do that.”