28 Sep HAVAS ACQUIRES THE 88, TAPS FOUNDER AS NEW YORK CREATIVE CHIEF
Havas has acquired social media and digital shop The 88, bringing on Harry Bernstein, founder and
chief creative officer, as chief creative officer of the New York office.
Bernstein succeeds Toygar Bazarkaya, who until mid-April was chief creative officer of the Americas
and chairman of the Global Creative Council for Havas Worldwide and led creative for New York, says
Jason Peterson, chairman and chief creative officer of Havas Creative U.S.
All 48 of Bernstein’s staffers will join Havas New York, and The 88 will become Annex88, which is
extension of Havas’ cultural network founded in Chicago and dedicated to emerging consumer
trends. Bernstein will report into Peterson. The duo previously worked together at Berlin Cameron.
No client conflicts have surfaced through the deal, says Bernstein, adding that his current clients,
such as Adidas and Bloomingdale’s, will now have broader support and scale through Havas’
network.
“When I started the 88 and I didn’t call us a social agency – I just wanted to do things differently,”
says Bernstein. “And this opportunity came and it’s accelerating my vision to change advertising and
do things non-traditionally.”