Havas has acquired multi-award-winning experiential agency Bearded Kitten, strengthening brand experience expertise in the UK and worldwide.
Bearded Kitten will be rebranded as ‘Bearded Kitten, Part of Havas Play’, and will continue operating from its current premises. Founder Barney Sutton will join the Havas Play leadership team reporting into CEO Nick Wright.
The move bolsters Havas Play’s global proposition, providing added scale, creativity and production expertise in experiential marketing valued at $128.3bn globally.
Founded in 2007, Bearded Kitten has forged a strong reputation for delivering brand activations and experiential marketing campaigns with specialist expertise in immersive experience design, prop-making and theatrical production, alongside deep sector knowledge spanning entertainment, retail, and luxury.
The 45-person agency currently works with Netflix, Unilever, Intuit, L’Oreal, Twitch and Beavertown and several existing Havas Media Network UK clients including Red Bull, Pokemon, Google and Disney.
Havas said the integration is the next evolution of Havas Play UK, creating a 200-strong brand experience powerhouse backed by the agency’s global scale to deliver fully connected and immersive experiences for brands that want to earn their place in culture.
“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,” said Nick Wright, CEO of Havas Play UK.
Barney Sutton, now CEO of Bearded Kitten, part of Havas Play, added: “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.”