The outspoken De Pouzilhac had earlier this year said the Havas name may be too weak for one of the world's largest advertising groups.
The company's shareholders voted in overwhelming support for the move at the group's annual general meeting in Paris. The move follows the acquisition of the full rights to the Havas name from Vivendi Universal for 拢2.85m. Previously, the advertising company had used the name under licence from Vivendi.
The simplification of its name is designed to reflect the group's "ambition to be present across all the different communication disciplines". The move came following a worldwide study which showed that the Havas name scored highly in terms of brand image of creativity, financial capacity, competitiveness, reliability, and vision and service on behalf of clients worldwide.
Commenting on the new name, De Pouzilhac said: "I am delighted that our shareholders have approved this resolution, which is key to our group's development. In emotional terms, I love this brand, to which a number of very talented men and women have devoted a great deal of time and energy."
He added: "In rational and strategic terms, it is a powerful and well-known brand, which accurately reflects the scope of our group today. With the support of our shareholders, we will now devote all our available resources to develop Havas, a leading communication brand, even further."
Havas owns the Euro RSCG Worldwide and Arnold Worldwide Partners advertising networks and the media network MPG.
The name has significant historical importance in French media, being directly traceable back to Charles Louis Havas, founder of the world's first news agency in 1835.
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