Havas has acquired UK-based experiential agency Bearded Kitten, strengthening its ability to deliver brand experiences for clients in the UK and worldwide.
Bearded Kitten will be rebranded as ‘Bearded Kitten, Part of Havas Play’ and will be integrated into Havas Play UK as part of Havas Media Network UK.
Founder Barney Sutton will join the Havas Play leadership team, reporting to CEO Nick Wright.
This move bolsters Havas Play’s global proposition, providing added scale, creativity and production expertise in experiential marketing.
Founded in 2007, Bearded Kitten has forged a powerful reputation for delivering immersive, end-to-end brand activations and experiential marketing campaigns for some of the world’s most iconic brands. Bearded Kitten currently works with Netflix, Unilever, Intuit, L’Oreal, Twitch and Beavertown and several existing Havas Media Network UK clients, including Red Bull, Pokémon, Google and Disney.
Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO, Havas, said, “Bearded Kitten consistently ranks among the top experiential agencies worldwide. We are thrilled to welcome Barney Sutton and the entire team at Bearded Kitten to the Havas family. Their creativity, craft and proven track record will help us capitalise on the experiential marketing boom. The acquisition of Bearded Kitten is a statement of our ambition to scale our Havas Play offering globally.”
Patrick Affleck, CEO of Havas Media Network UK & Ireland, said, “Experiential is back in high demand and growth, and Bearded Kitten’s creativity and craft set the benchmark for what best-in-class looks like. Bringing them into Havas Play supercharges our ability to deliver bold, immersive experiences that earn brands a meaningful role in culture. This is an exciting new chapter for both them and us as we look to deliver breakthrough work for our clients.”
Nick Wright, CEO of Havas Play UK, said, “Experiential has always been front and centre in our offering, and with Bearded Kitten now part of the team, we can supercharge and scale this even further. Their arrival unlocks bigger, bolder ideas driven by integrated thinking and seamless delivery through one fully connected team. With Bearded Kitten’s award-winning experiential craft and robust in-house production capabilities, we can deliver best-in-class brand experiences at the heart of integrated campaigns, across every brief.”
Barney Sutton, now CEO of Bearded Kitten, part of Havas Play, said, “From our first conversations with Havas, we knew it was the right fit. We’ve been particularly selective about potential partners, but Havas Play instantly felt like the missing piece. We’re still very much Bearded Kitten, the same people and culture, but now with the scale and resources of Havas Play behind us. We couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter!”
