Stories
Havas-PivotRoots: A Unified Vision Beyond Acquisition
- •Havas Media's acquisition of PivotRoots is viewed by CEOs Mohit Joshi and Shibu Shivanandan not as a traditional takeover, but as a strategic merger driven by shared vision and chemistry.
- •PivotRoots was founded in 2016 by Shibu Shivanandan to address the issue of siloed specialist agencies, aiming to integrate media, UI/UX, SEO, social, content, and marketing technology under one roof.
- •Havas sought a digital and e-commerce partner in India around 2020, finding a strong match with PivotRoots due to their aligned chemistry and complementary capabilities.
- •The merger provides PivotRoots with access to Havas' global AI and data infrastructure, including the Converge platform, significantly accelerating technological development that would have taken years independently.
- •Both CEOs emphasize the importance of strong client relationships and adapting to the expectations of Gen Z employees, fostering a culture of growth and unity within the combined entity.
Key Questions Answered
Shibu Shivanandan founded PivotRoots in 2016 after observing that brands were working with multiple specialist agencies operating in isolated silos, such as separate teams handling media, design, and SEO without connecting the dots. He built the agency so these capabilities could sit together, starting with media and UI/UX before expanding into SEO, social, content, and marketing technology.
Havas provided access to its global AI and data infrastructure, which includes the Converge platform. This technology allows the agency to build synthetic consumer models and quickly transform a single television commercial into multiple digital-ready formats, saving significant manual design work.
Five years after the acquisition deal, the CEOs reported that Havas Media ranks third in India by scale and first in perception. They attribute this strong market position to the collaborative success and integrated operations achieved since the transaction.
