HAVAS SHINES AT ATHAR FESTIVAL 2025: CELEBRATING CREATIVITY, PURPOSE, AND CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION IN RIYADH

Havas made a powerful impact at Athar Festival 2025 in Riyadh, with leaders including Fabio Silveira, Dany Naaman, Alejandro Fischer, Anaïs Guillemané, and Bertille Toledano sharing insights on creativity, purpose, design, and multiculturalism. Their sessions highlighted Saudi Arabia’s rise as a global hub for innovation, cultural transformation, and purpose-driven brand building.

Over two remarkable days in Riyadh, the Athar Festival 2025 became a vibrant stage for ideas, inspiration, and the future of brand storytelling — with Havas Middle East standing out as one of the event’s most dynamic participants. The festival, which celebrates the creative economy and the power of communication in shaping culture, saw Havas leaders deliver thought-provoking sessions that explored the evolving intersection of creativity, technology, and purpose across Saudi Arabia and the wider region.

At the heart of Havas’ presence was Fabio Silveira, Chief Growth Officer and Creative Leader at Havas Middle East, who joined a high-profile panel discussion alongside four of the Kingdom’s most influential CMOs — Nabil Sleiman (Almarai), Nedda Akhonbay (MDLBEAST), Kelly Rafferty (Aujan), and Ammar Alamro (Saudi Motorsport Federation). Together, they delved into the new era of brand building in Saudi Arabia, offering insights on how the nation’s rapidly shifting market dynamics and youthful, connected population are shaping creative opportunities for brands. The session highlighted a clear shift from traditional advertising models to storytelling rooted in authenticity, innovation, and cultural relevance.

Continuing the momentum, Dany Naaman, CEO of Havas Middle East, joined the prestigious CEO Panel to share his perspective on purpose-led creativity. Naaman spoke passionately about the importance of building meaningful brands that resonate emotionally and stand out amid the noise of today’s media landscape. His message reinforced the Havas ethos — that creativity has the power to make a genuine difference when guided by purpose, empathy, and social responsibility.

Alejandro Fischer added another layer of inspiration with his session on The New Codes of Luxury, exploring how luxury brands must evolve to meet the values of a new generation of consumers who prize experience, identity, and sustainability over traditional notions of exclusivity. Fischer’s take offered a refreshing look at how the luxury market in the Middle East — particularly in Saudi Arabia — is redefining global standards of refinement and desirability.

Design and consumer insight also took center stage with Anaïs Guillemané Mootoosamy, who presented findings from the Conran Design Group’s Citizen Brands study. Her session demonstrated how design thinking can build meaning and trust, highlighting the study’s exploration into the values of Saudi consumers. By understanding what drives emotional connections between people and brands, she underscored how design becomes not just aesthetic, but deeply strategic — a bridge between business goals and human needs.

The festival’s creative energy reached a crescendo when Bertille Toledano took the stage for the first time as President of Havas Creative Network and CEO of Havas Creative Middle East. Her keynote on multicultural creativity resonated powerfully with the audience, celebrating the idea that the most impactful work is born from the fusion of local authenticity and global ambition. Toledano’s vision, rooted in cultural understanding and creative excellence, reflected both the spirit of Havas and the pulse of Saudi Arabia’s creative transformation.

For Havas, Athar Festival 2025 was more than a showcase of ideas — it was a reaffirmation of its commitment to the region’s creative evolution. The conversations across the panels and keynotes echoed a broader movement taking shape in Saudi Arabia: one that places creativity at the heart of national progress. As the Kingdom continues its ambitious Vision 2030 journey, creativity and communication are emerging as vital engines for social and economic transformation.

The festival also underlined how Saudi Arabia has rapidly become one of the world’s most exciting destinations for creative innovation. With brands, agencies, and cultural leaders converging in Riyadh, the dialogue around purpose, storytelling, and technology felt more vibrant and future-focused than ever before.

For Havas, each voice from its leadership team — from Silveira’s insights on brand evolution to Naaman’s vision of purpose-led impact, from Fischer’s analysis of luxury’s redefinition to Guillemané’s design intelligence, and Toledano’s global-local creative philosophy — contributed to a powerful narrative of growth, collaboration, and cultural empathy.

As the curtains closed on Athar Festival 2025, one message was clear: creativity in the Middle East is no longer confined to campaigns or commercials — it is shaping identities, industries, and entire communities. And Havas, with its bold ideas and belief in meaningful connections, is helping lead that transformation.

Two inspiring days in Riyadh reaffirmed what many in the global creative community now recognize — Saudi Arabia has become a true hub of innovation, where purpose, passion, and cultural understanding are weaving together the next chapter of global creativity.