• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, August 27, 2021

As agents for their clients, ad agencies are often confronted with the dilemma of whether it is better for them to build, buy or lease resources necessary to manage their marketing campaigns -- especially the technology that powers them.

This morning, big agency holding company Havas announced its answer increasingly will be to “build” it via a new entity: Havas Sovereign Technologies.

The new unit, which includes a bleeding-edge technology offering -- Havas Blockchain -- was conceived to offer clients “end-to-end support in appropriating innovations, protecting their reputation and mitigating risks associated with new technologies,” the company said in a statement unveiling it this morning.

Among other things, Havas singled out the disruptive nature of “crises” that “spare no one,” as part of its rationale for accelerating technological development and innovation in order to keep its clients one step ahead.

"This evolution comes at an opportune time," adds Havas Blockchain Director Fabien Aufrechter, who will manage Havas Sovereign Technologies, which he said has four pillars distinguishing it:

• Expertise in technological intelligence.

• Strategic consulting in digital governance.

• Deployment of digital infrastructures.

• Global communication support.

Havas said the unit was conceived to service all clients -- big and small -- ranging from established brands to startups, as well as public institution and non-governmental organizations.

"The technological leap of the last five years has turned digital sovereignty from a purely technological issue into a real strategic challenge,” Aufrechter explains, adding: “The issues of innovation, trust and technological security have become inescapable for both public and private players.”