APAC PR growth could hit high single digits if India, China and Australia perform, Says James Wright, Havas Red Global CEO

On a recent September visit to India, Havas PR's global CEO James Wright spoke to PRmoment India on a wide range of subjects, including what growth looks like for APAC in 2025, the role of India, China and Australia in driving this growth,

Our recent story on the impact of the new GST mandates on PR growth in India supports Wright's assessment of high single-digit growth in 2025. The proverbial animal spirits for PR, as per industry leaders, will take up to six months to show up. The increased festival spending could go to paid media and advertising. 

Wright also shared why PR  industries in APAC need to learn from how undercutting retainers has impacted the Singapore PR market.

He also commented on how PR Pundit Havas Red is performing post-acquisition in 2023 and future expansion. Wright does not rule out further acquisition in India, providing there is a really good asset on the market, but currently the focus of expansion is on Latin America and Africa. Finding a good cultural partner fit in China is also on the radar for Wright.

The Havas PR Network is currently valued at an estimated $250 million and aims to target a valuation of over $300 million within five years. Wright says that means the network has a good war chest to look at possible buys.

Read on.

PRmoment India: PR insiders in India are talking about single-digit growth for the PR sector in 2025. What do you see in terms of growth for the APAC region?  Will it cross into double digits?

James Wright: I think it will be high single digits. And that depends on how quickly the big markets come out of the sluggish period.  By big markets, I mean, it's China, it's India, it's Australia, Singapore, to an extent. But those three in particular. Maybe Japan, depending on whether you're in Japan, because it's a tough market, unless your name is Denstu. You have got to have the right setup in those big markets, because they should essentially power 80% of the revenue ( In APAC), maybe more in some sub networks.

PRmoment India: This is your first visit to India after the PR Pundit acquisition. How's the acquisition in India going?

James Wright: What's super impressive is the world-class brands that the PR Pundit Havas Red has. And those clients are trusting us as their brand guardians. They are servicing big global brands and really interesting and innovative local brands. They're obviously doing a lot of earned media work, social influencer content, stakeholder engagement, and a lot of issues management as well. 

So we're covering space you'd expect from a forward-looking agency. And despite economic headwinds that the agency is performing super well. It's also great to see that the client retention is super high. Staff retention is super high. There's a lot to like about what's happening here. And I think as the economy starts to improve, hopefully in the next year or two, we're going to see even more growth here.

PRmoment India: When you say super high, what does that mean in terms of actual numbers? We all know that not just for India, but all over the world. It's not been a great year for growth, for PR after the growth in 2022 and 2023, where there was post-COVID, pent-up demand.

James Wright: I was referring to the work, but the numbers are very resilient here, in this market in particular, actually, globally, we've continued to grow and be very, very profitable, and you can see that in the league tables, and we're very fortunate in that regard. 

And I think it's also because we're quite diversified as a PR network. We are not just wedded to consumer lifestyle, we are in automotive, we're in corporate, we're in tech, we're in health, and a lot of those industries continue to spend during that time also, because there's been a lot of challenges, not just economically, but social, politically, issues with equal justice, cost of living, climate change. This has required strategic communications for a lot of our clients as they've tried to navigate major changes in their business or business transformation, or just tackling specific stakeholder issues. 

 Obviously, you want more (profitability and growth), but I think you got to do that realistically, particularly in light of the economy. Every part of the world has had some version of it, in terms of the sluggishness that exists in the market. Even now, when there are a little bit of green shoots, it's sort of three steps forward, two steps back, clients moving and shifting budgets. 

It's not like we're losing clients. Clients just don't have as much money to spend in the market. But I am seeing some green shoots, starting to see decisions being made a little bit faster.  Current clients are giving organic budgets for particular campaigns.  And on the new business front, clients are actually making decisions a little bit faster. Because it's kind of got into a situation where some pitches were taking six to nine months before an agency was appointed. And that's a long time to be invested when you're not being paid."

PRmoment India: What learnings would apply to the India market, from what you've experienced in Australia or other APAC centres, especially about retainer size and talent attrition rates?

James Wright: The (PR) industry needs to decide what it wants to be. I've seen this in Singapore, where there's a race to the bottom at the moment in terms of retainers, just being cut. And it has really destroyed the market, and it's a race to the bottom. You've got to have more value in yourself in terms of the strategic and technical capability you bring to a client. The client also has a role in this, in terms of paying for quality work. The reality is, someone's always there to undercut you. But, where does the industry body sit on this? What role are they playing in terms of actually trying to manage it? Because otherwise you could just have your independent, three- or four-person PR shops, it's gonna be the Wild West.

I think it devalues our industry, and I think that is a terrible place to be. Because this is a very strategic business. People come to us as brand guardians to help them get through some significant business transformation, business challenges. And if I'm saying, actually, well, I can do that for you, but at half the price, the client's got a question of whether, actually, how can you do that at half price, and now you actually bring the same value, experience, knowledge and know-how that someone else can bring. Agencies have to decide who they want to be, and the clients also have a decision to make.

PRmoment India: What do future acquisition plans look like? Of course, you've said in interviews earlier that it's not all about acquisition. The growth has been organic as well. So what's the roadmap for acquisition going forward? Is it done for India at the moment? Would there be other acquisitions in India and globally? 

James Wright: We have a plan. We have a strategic framework, whether it's a geographical need, a strategic need, or a client need in different parts of the world. For example, we've been opening in Africa because clients have been coming to us, wanting more PR.  I think Africa is the next frontier as well. And then we needed to get a strategic, geographical need to be in India a few years ago. And obviously, that's why we've managed to convince Archana to come on board. It's been wonderful since, and I've got a great relationship with her.  But, equally, you know, you could have that plan, but if a great asset comes on the market looking for a home. We'll talk to them. I'm open to that. But we've got some very specific needs at the moment within the PR network, and we're very fortunate. We're coming from a position of relative strength to be able to make those acquisitions. And while there's a lot of moving the deck chairs, on the Titanic, in some of the other holding companies, we're not seeing that so much. We're actually coming more from a position of strength.

PRmoment India: What are the gaps that you're seeing in terms of geographical areas and in areas of expertise? Is it China?

James Wright: No, our biggest gap is in South America and Central America. That is a focus for us. We're using a wonderful partner there at the moment, and we're looking at, you know, how do we approach that part of the world? But you know, you don't need to be in every market anymore. You just don't. We have a big footprint in the Middle East now. Saudi Arabia is an interesting market now, as it starts to open up. 

Africa has really been more of an organic growth piece. We have advertising and media agency assets in different parts of Africa. And now we actually wanted to invest as a startup by hiring two or three smart PR people and then growing from there. 

We've just opened in Nigeria, obviously South Africa, for a while, China is important, but we could find the right kind of culture fit asset that is there that we believe aligns with us, and we can see value in doing that as things continue to open up in China.