MANILA, FEBRUARY 1, 2013 – Havas Worldwide Southeast Asia has announced the launch of Havas Life in the sub-region. Havas Life SEA will be led by new hire Dr VJ Yamat, who will serve as the director based in the agency’s regional hub in Singapore, and will work across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Yamat joins from McCann in the Philippines, where he served as managing director of McCann Healthcare and VP of McCann Worldgroup. During this time he worked on the Nestle infant nutrition portfolio, Unilab, MSD and Abbott. Prior to this Yamat held senior roles in a number of healthcare marketing agencies, including Ogilvy Health Singapore and Publicis Healthcare Communications Group Greater China.
“Havas Life is real healthcare powerhouse and the opportunity in Asia is massive and rapidly growing. While we’ve long worked in this space in the sub-region, bringing VJ onboard to officially launch Havas Life Southeast Asia marks a real shift in the evolution of our health and wellness business and is strategically a significant move for us,” said Naomi Troni, CEO, Havas Worldwide Southeast Asia.
A medical doctor by training, VJ received his pre med from the University of the Philippines, his doctorate from University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, College of Medicine, and went on to earn his MBA from the Ateneo Graduate School of Business.
“Havas Life’s Southeast Asia entry could not have come at a better time. Clients from both the public and private health and wellness sectors are craving smart, innovative, and effective ways to communicate to doctors, patients and other stakeholders,” said Yamat. “Havas Life is truly in a perfect position to provide intelligent communications solutions across the sub-region, and I’m thrilled to be leading this exciting charge.”
The agency already works with a number of health and wellness clients in the region, including Kalbe, MSD, Danone, Reckitt Benckiser and Astra Zeneca among others. Yamat’s role is effective immediately and he will report into Troni.
