What you need to know:

• After eight years, Havas Media Group Executive Chairman Mike Wilson is exiting.
• "My work is done," he told Mi3.
• Wilson acknowledged Havas Media hadn’t stormed the agency sector since launching in 2013: "Having said that, there’s no other media agency that’s gone from zero to 100 people in seven years, and launched in multiple markets."
• Havas Media Group CEO Virginia Hyland said Havas would continue to work with Wilson on "key initiatives"
• Wilson said he's working on a "number of interesting things" in areas "not identical" to Havas.
• Deeper integration with Havas' parent Vivendi is on hold as the entertainment giant focuses on the breakout and IPO of Universal Music. 

Havas Media’s founding ANZ CEO Mike Wilson has cut his executive chairman ties with the French after two contract extensions, hinting a new gig is in the wings.

Wilson started Havas Media ANZ in 2013. “My work is done," he told Mi3. "I was brought into launch a media agency, I launched an agency, I’ve launched it in multiple markets and then acquired an agency in Hyland to scale the business. I’ve then mentored and nurtured the CEO as part of the succession plan – which is Virginia Hyland – and now it’s time to go and focus on some other interesting things in the market, of which there are several.”

Wilson may also continue to advise the group. “Happily, it is not goodbye and we will work together on key initiatives." said Havas Media Group CEO Virginia Hyland. "Mike needs to spread his wings…"

Musical chairs

Wilson has in the past talked up the opportunities for Havas to differentiate itself from rival holding companies via its merger with the entertainment giant, Vivendi, controlled by the billionaire French industrialist Vincent Bolloré, who also controlled Havas before rolling up the two companies. 

Vivendi owns Universal Music, pay TV and international film group Canal+, mobile gaming giant Gameloft, ticketing firms and a host of other diversified entertainment interests. 

The intent for the two groups was to link culture closer to brands and commerce but Wilson said Vivendi’s planned spin-off of Universal Music had shifted timelines and priorities. 

“The challenge we have with Vivendi is obviously that their focus right now is on the IPO of Universal Music,” he said. “So, until that's gone through, it's hard to make a call on the future of the integration of the group.”

Bicycle race

On the ANZ operation, Wilson acknowledged Havas Media hadn’t stormed the agency sector since arriving in 2013. “No, but having said that, there’s no other media agency that’s gone from zero to 100 people in seven years, and launched in multiple markets. It’s for Virginia to take it to the next level, to storm the barricades. I’d say we’re firmly entrenched at the front of the peloton. Now it’s time to try and break.”  

Asked if there was enough room and opportunity for a significantly differentiated media agency group in ANZ, Wilson said: “There’s demand for it because clients, businesses are changing so dramatically. Anyone who behaves like a media agency of the last 10 years won’t be successful.”

London-based Havas Group ANZ chairman, Anthony Freedman, said in a statement: “I have been lucky to have known and worked closely with Mike for more than two decades. He is one of the smartest media minds around, but more than that, a true entrepreneur who has built successful businesses, including Naked Communications, before establishing Havas Media. He is a progressive agency leader who really gets both the art and science of modern marketing.”