Peroni Ditches McCann After Two Years — Havas Now Runs the Global Creative Account
Updated: Sep 1
TL;DR: Peroni Nastro Azzurro has appointed Havas as its global creative agency of record after a competitive pitch, ending a two-year run with McCann and slotting Peroni into Havas's existing Asahi Super Dry relationship.
The move at a glance
Peroni Nastro Azzurro, the flagship premium lager from Asahi Europe & International, has confirmed Havas as its global creative agency of record. The appointment was reported by Campaign, LBBOnline and Marketing-Interactive on 18 August 2026, following a competitive process that began in April and reached final chemistry sessions in June.
McCann Worldgroup had held the account for just two years. In a statement, McCann UK CEO Mel Arrow thanked the team who had 'worked relentlessly' on the brand. Havas UK's Mark Whelan said he was 'looking forward to building on the great work' already in market.
Why Asahi bundled the account with Havas
Havas already handles Asahi Super Dry globally, so the Peroni win effectively hands the world's second-largest premium beer portfolio to a single creative partner. Asahi CMO Małgorzata Lubelska framed the decision as positioning Peroni for its 'next chapter of growth' by 'bringing our global brands together'.
Consolidation of this scale is deliberately unfashionable — most FMCG groups are splintering roster deeper into project agencies. Asahi is going the other way because premium beer is now a media problem, not a message problem: the same 30-second story needs to work in an Italian aperitivo bar, a US off-premise campaign and a Japanese e-commerce carousel, and single-holdco planning cuts weeks of alignment.
Marketing Minute's read
For CMOs of premium brands, the Havas-Asahi playbook is worth stealing three things from. First, treat 'creative agency of record' as a delivery contract for global consistency, not a brief-generation exercise. Second, when you consolidate, publicly reward the outgoing agency — Arrow's classy statement will earn McCann more new-business meetings than a defensive one would. Third, name the tension you are solving for the winner, because 'work with Havas Super Dry teams' is a much sharper brief than 'be creative'.
The move also underlines Havas's summer momentum. In August alone the network has been named on Nomad Foods and now Peroni, keeping it near the top of the global new-business league at exactly the moment Publicis is closing its LiveRamp deal and WPP is defending accounts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Quick FAQ
Q: Who is Peroni's new creative agency?
A: Havas is now Peroni Nastro Azzurro's global creative agency of record, appointed after a competitive pitch that ran from April to June 2026.
Q: Which agency did Peroni leave?
A: McCann Worldgroup, which had held the account for just two years.
Q: Does Havas already work with Asahi?
A: Yes — Havas already runs global creative for Asahi Super Dry, and Peroni now joins that relationship under a single holdco.
Peroni's move is bigger than one beer brand — it's Asahi voting for one narrative across borders. When brand and media sit in the same holdco, the argument stops being about creative-vs-media and starts being about total commercial effect. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
The takeaway: Asahi is buying global narrative consistency, not just cheaper creative — and that is now the harder brief to answer.
Would your brand consolidate its creative to one holdco to force consistency, or is 'best-in-class per market' still the answer?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Campaign, LBBOnline, Marketing-Interactive, More About Advertising.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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