Advertising news in brief

French advertising group Havas has been left in a management wilderness after chairman and chief executive, Alain de Pouzilhac, was ousted. Four board directors are now running the company, which owns Euro RSCG Worldwide, Arnold Worldwide and MPG, until a new leader is appointed. Jean-Marie Dru, head of Omnicomís TBWA Worldwide, is tipped for the job. Pouzilhac stood down as chairman ñ though retaining his board seat ñ after mishandling a quarrel with Vincent BollorÈ, Havasí biggest shareholder. Observers are concerned about the future direction of the company, which has already lost two big contracts this year, with Volkswagen and Intel.

More members for IPA

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has elected 10 new agencies to its membership, taking the current number of member agencies to 243. The new agencies include specialists in healthcare, direct marketing, digital marketing and brand communications. They are: 3Sixty Internet, Arc Worldwide London, Hooper Galton, Kastner & Partners in London, Lane Earl & Cox Advertising, Mindcom Internet, Newhaven Communications, Partners Andrews Aldridge, The Bank, and Walker Communications. In addition, 178 personal members (MIPAs) were elected, bringing the total number of MIPAs to 593.

Ad spend up in Q1

Advertising spend in the UK totalled nearly £4bn (3.993) for the first quarter of 2005, an increase of 3.5 per cent rise on figures for the same reporting period last year. According to figures from the Advertising Associationís Quartlery Survey of Advertising Expenditure, there has been a notable 48.9 per cent increase in internet advertising spend, while spend on direct mail and classified advertising dropped 8.8 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively. TV advertising spend increased by 11.7 per cent.