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Havas has appointed Ol Janus to the new role of global head of data for its customer experience network, Havas CX.

Marking a further strengthening of the group's digital capabilities, his appointment comes in the same week that Havas Media Group hired Omnicom’s Laura Kell in the new post of chief data and product officer.

Janus, previously group head of data for the network’s lead UK agency, Havas CX Helia, will report to Havas Creative global chief strategy officer Mark Sinnock. 

The role will give Janus responsibility for leading and developing data products and services across the entire Havas CX global network.

Havas CX comprises more than 1,200 people from 20 of Havas Creative’s global agency groups and local agencies, plus additional specialists from across the Havas network. Since its establishment in October 2020, it has won several accounts, including Volkswagen Group UK, Aesop and Royal Canin. 

Janus rejoined Havas in 2017, having spent three years at Ogilvy, where he led its data practice in London and worked across clients including Nestlé, BT, BP and Public Health England. Prior to that, he spent more than 10 years at the agency now known as Havas CX Helia, where he held roles including managing director and global data director, working with Diageo, Unilever, easyJet and Comparethemarket among others. Before his first stint at Havas, Janus held various data strategy roles at companies including Acxiom and Virgin Media.

Sinnock said: “This important new role will be pivotal in ensuring our global data capabilities are fully integrated across our network, as well as being greater than the sum of their parts. In CX, we often speak about new technology or cutting-edge tools – but underpinning those is talent.

"It’s one thing to talk about the potential of data science and another to actually make it happen. Ol makes the complex simple and the inaccessible easily understood, but most important is his ability to turn cutting-edge data theory into reality.”

Janus added: “I don’t think it’s controversial to say that too many brands still don’t understand data – or, at the very least, don’t understand how to fully realise its potential. Five years ago, they might have got away with that but after 18 months which brought customer engagement permanently to the fore, those that don’t will die. Havas understands this, hence the creation of this role, and for me, it’s an incredibly exciting time to be taking it on.”