Richardson has been tasked with shaping Havas’ European creative product in continental Europe alongside Eric Schoeffler, executive creative director Europe.
He has joined from BBDO Worldwide, where he was chief creative officer and managing director at BBDO Dusseldorf.
Havas said the appointment is important as part of its "To better together" strategy that is meant to unite creative and media along with specialist networks within 48 Havas Villages around the world.
Richardson will be based in Havas Dusseldorf’s office, where he will also head up the creative team in Germany as chief creative officer. Richardson reports into Schoeffler and Havas' European and UK group chief executive Chris Hirst.
At BBDO he was the global chief creative officer for Braun and also worked on client accounts for Mars (Snickers and M&Ms), Becks and Sky.
Before joining the Omnicom agency group in 2012, Richardson was creative director and head of interactive at Cripin Porter & Bogusky in Toronto and has also worked at 180 Amsterdam, Isobar and R/GA in London and New York. He started his career as a software programmer.
Schoeffler said: "Darren represents part of the European creative elite. His creativity, openness and straightforward nature give him the potent combination of being both accessible and inspirational. His creative and digital talents, along with his reputation as a team player, mean that he will be a fantastic addition to our creative power within Europe."
Earlier today Bloomberg announced that it had appointed Havas Creative Group's former global chief executive Andrew Benett as its global chief commercial officer.
