EDITORIAL HOPE IS STRONGER THAN FEAR As I sat down with the final version of this magazine this week, I was particularly struck by an article featuring a campaign by Havas Dubai, crafted during some of the darkest days in living history. It brought me right back to that time last year when the world felt as though it stopped turning. Those months were filled with such uncertainty about our health, our families and our future, and the only thing we had to face it all was a sense of hope that one day, all would be well. Hope is a powerful thing. Hope is stronger than fear. Those dark times might not be a world away just yet, but doors that have long been closed to us are cracking open. People who have kept their distance from one another are beginning to reunite and the economy and our own business are doing so much better than we thought they would back then. Look how far we’ve come together, harnessing that glimmer of hope within us all. In my eyes, hope and belief are very much intertwined. Havas Group’s long-standing belief in our meaningful positioning has set us far down a road that many brands and competitors are only just beginning. Our latest Meaningful Brands study proves what we’ve believed for the longest time, that people hope brands will act now for the good of society and the planet. More than ever, our meaningful message matters to clients. The integration of this philosophy into all facets of our work means that we now have the specialist tools, methodology and expertise to guide others who want to use their power to make a meaningful difference, too. You need only cast an eye on Dare! Online and within the pages of this magazine, to see the ways our creativity has found solutions for our clients in our shifted reality. Developments like Havas Impact+, Havas CX, Havas Studios and our Social Equity Marketplace to name but a few, offer hope that our clients can transform and become the brands so desired by global consumers. It is not only our growth and creativity that make me hopeful for our future. Our teams around the world have allowed us to thrive, and new business has never been more successful than this year. As you know, our industry will also be saying farewell to third- party cookies by the end of 2022. When many of our competitors invested heavily in data aquisitions, Havas instead outsourced, merely renting, not buying, if you will. Our decision to instead invest in our proprietary tools, means we move forward without the weight of data companies that will soon be obsolete. This edition of Dare! was created in collaboration with the incredible talent at Havas Turkey, whose creativity has sparked true and meaningful action in our battle to stop climate change. As a leader in this area, there could be no better partner to embrace this wave of hope. As Michelle Obama once said, history has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own. Soon, those long closed doors will open and we will once again connect and collaborate in our Villages around the world. In my eyes, there is nothing that is more important than that for our future success. We ourselves must remember this, and continue our mission to make a meaningful difference with renewed purpose. We must allow hope to take on that life of its own. YANNICK BOLLORÉ Chairman & CEO Havas Group 6 EPOH