Dentsu International Archives

Vietnam – Siddarth Malhotra, a veteran of the global creative and communications network dentsu, has been named as the new CEO of its dedicated creative division, Dentsu Creative, in Vietnam. Malhotra himself made the announcement on LinkedIn.

The appointment is an elevation where Malhotra served as managing director of the division for three years prior to moving into the current CEO position.

He is a seasoned leader of the dentsu network, particularly its Vietnam operations. He first joined dentsu in the market as chief client officer in 2018, and amidst leading Dentsu Creative Vietnam as MD which commenced in 2020, he also took on the role of being the CEO of Isobar in Vietnam, dentsu’s experience-led digital agency.

Back at Malhotra’s fresh appointment for Isobar, tripartite CEO Sanjay Bhasin who stands as the chief of dentsu for Thailand, Vietnam & Myanmar, praised Malhotra’s “deep understanding of how brands are built.”

It has not been long since dentsu’s creative network, Dentsu Creative, was officially launched in the industry. It was in June 2022 when parent org dentsu international made the announcement, and shortly after, the team of Dentsu Creative in India make historical waves for sweeping the top awards at Cannes Lions 2022.

In the end, Dentsu Creative India was hailed ‘Agency of The Year’ for its campaign ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’, which was developed for media company VICE.

Just before 2022 made a close, dentsu also unveiled a new leadership appointment in the market of Thailand. Oliver Kittipong Veerataecha was recently inaugurated as Group CMO of Brand Innovation at dentsu Thailand, which is also under Bhasin’s overall leadership.

Bangkok, Thailand – Dentsu Thailand has appointed Oliver Kittipong Veerataecha as its group chief marketing officer for Brand Innovation. The network said the new leadership goes under its strategic plan for continuous business transformation and will be effective January 3, 2023.

The global entity, Dentsu International, has recently announced a new global management structure which follows the integration of Dentsu Japan Network into the parent group. The said leadership direction will similarly be effective as 2023 ushers in.

For the role, Veerataecha will be overseeing the group’s strategic marketing services plan, the transformation of its integrated solutions, and the business growth opportunities in creative technology. He will spearhead the group’s business strategy for Thailand together with Wisarn Sirijantanon, CEO of Media Services Line, and Narong Tresuchon, CEO of Dentsu Creative. He will be reporting to Sanjay Bhasin, CEO of dentsu Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

Bhasin commented, “I strongly believe in the power of bringing brilliant, diverse minds together to pre-empt the opportunities of tomorrow for our people, clients, partners, and society. I have previously partnered with Oliver, and I’m thrilled he has joined dentsu as part of his next career growth with the group.”

“I am impressed with his ability to bring the company’s vision with growth acceleration in the local, regional, and global markets. I look forward to driving our business with growth expansion in the region.”

Prior to joining Dentsu, Veerataecha had been the chief brand and group communication officer at TRUE Corporation and president of WPP’s VMLY&R in Thailand. He brings with him over 25 years of experience in the creative, media, and digital technology industries.

Veerataecha shared, “I am thrilled to join dentsu as part of the senior executive team. I will be working closely with the team to lead the group and contribute to the business growth, customer engagement and relationship management as part of our global strategy and I look forward to driving the business steadily for continuous growth and success in the region.

“I am eager to help push and drive the company’s vision and mission to become the world’s leading integrated communications agency in line with global strategic goals amidst business challenges in the year ahead.”

Singapore – Dentsu International has announced the launch of its exclusive dentsu gaming data and insight capability which aims to help brands connect more authentically with consumers and become part of the gaming culture.

For the launch, two specialist sets of data were fused with dentsu’s proprietary Consumer Connection System (CCS) research panel data, including gaming data from GWI Gaming and dentsu’s proprietary Southeast Asian research on gaming attitudes.

GWI’s data is available across 21 markets globally, including nine markets in Asia-Pacific. On the other hand, Dentsu’s data came from six Southeast Asian markets such as Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

The data fusion allows brands to access high-fidelity portraits of gamers that encompass lifestyle and media attitudes, behaviours, and deep-rooted gaming habits. Moreover, the SEA data shows insight into gamers’ willingness to pay for in-game products versus similar real-life products.

This is expected to open a new depth of insight available for strategy, planning, and activation.

Jamie McConville, dentsu gaming lead for APAC said, “The explosion of gaming genres and ways to play has led to an always-increasing variety of gaming behaviours. Our motivation-based segmentation provides an effective way for brands to identify relevant groups of gamers that consistently translate in every market and provide strong creative and behavioural insights for these audiences.”

This project is also in conjunction with dentsu gaming’s 42-page global report titled “dentsu: For The Game” last October, which includes an in-depth analysis of gaming culture and how brands can value-add to the gaming experience and develop a genuine and effective presence in the gaming ecosystem.

The said report also identified six gaming archetypes for brands to tap into. These archetypes have been named according to their primary motivations, such as “For The Revive”, “For The Hype”, “For The Party”, “For The Win”, “For The Immersion” and “For The Downtime”.

Prerna Mehrotra, CEO of dentsu Media APAC said, “There are an estimated 1.5bn people in Asia Pacific who game. Of these, over 40% are females and a quarter are Gen Z. 25% of them play to be part of a community, while 8% do it For The Win; to develop their skills and be praised.”

She added, “Simply grouping them together as “gamers” isn’t good enough. In the current economic context, marketers need to demonstrate how every dollar counts when building their brand. Therefore, it is critical brands are reaching the right audience and targeting effectively for maximum relevancy and to minimise wasted efforts as they venture into new virtual territory.”

Sunil Naryani, chief product officer for APAC at dentsu international also commented, “By supercharging our CCS data platform with proprietary gaming research data in Southeast Asia, we have built fully media-addressable gamer profiles which our clients can access for holistic insight across gaming preferences, media consumption habits and brand affinities, along with the ability to also activate these profiles today in their marketing campaigns for increased effectiveness.”

CCS and GWI’s fused data and insight are exclusive to dentsu gaming, and are accessible through dentsu’s agencies including Carat, dentsu X, iProspect, DENTSU CREATIVE, Merkle and the dentsu Japan network.

Established last year, dentsu gaming has been providing access to specialist strategy, activation, and original intellectual property (IP) development for brands seeking to connect with and navigate the gaming ecosystem.

London, United Kingdom – Wendy Clark, the current chief executive officer of Dentsu International, is set to leave the company following a global restructuring as mandated by dentsu’s head office in Japan. The restructuring is part of dentsu’s initiative to transition towards a ‘one management team’ system.

In a LinkedIn post, Clark reflected on her time with Dentsu for two years, including a 17% growth in the agency for the first quarter of 2021, and the massive wins of Dentsu Creative Bengaluru for their campaign with Vice.

“Make no mistake, this is progress not perfection. While we lead in certain aspects of our strategy, we have work to do in others and areas we need to improve upon as a company,” she said.

Clark added, “But this performance is ahead of our mid-term management plan and as such the time is right for Dentsu International to integrate into Dentsu Group, led by Hiroshi Igarashi and one management team. As the outgoing DI CEO, I will help Igarashi-san and the DI Exec Team with this transition through the end of this year.”

Clark’s resignation from Dentsu International takes effect on December 31 this year, as well as stepping down from her role as director and executive officer of the company.

Through the global leadership restructuring, Dentsu Group will have its business operations conducted in four regions—Japan, Americas, EMEA, and APAC. The upcoming “one management team” led by president and CEO Hiroshi Igarashi will comprise a culturally diverse group of leaders with a wealth of knowledge and experience.

In addition, the Dentsu group will globally integrate each of its corporate functions to build a common management platform. On September 15, the group will launch a dedicated integration office to drive a seamless transformation process.

Australia – Dentsu International has today announced the appointment of Danny Bass as chief executive officer of its media portfolio across the ANZ market, overseeing the strategic direction and growth of the Carat, iProspect, and dentsu X brands.

Bass brings more than 20 years’ experience in digital media, most recently as director of Snap, Inc and formerly CEO of IPG Mediabrands Australia. His background has included building an industry-recognised digital trading platform to change the way media is bought and sold, and he played a pivotal role in establishing the digital arms of News Corp Australia.

Angela Tangas, CEO of dentsu ANZ, commented, “Modern media has never been more important as a powerful driver of business growth for brands. Its effectiveness is unlocked through horizontal creativity that when combined with data and technology, breeds new dimensions of sustainable performance for brands.”

“Danny was a natural choice to lead our Media business with a strong values alignment to dentsu, as a force for good in the industry, focussed on client first outcomes, and as an active advocate of workplace equality, diversity, and inclusion. He brings a leadership style influenced by his work in the for-purpose space, supported by his role as Chairman of UnLtd,” added Tangas.

Tangas shared that Bass will be partnering alongside its Dentsu Creative, Merkle and Solutions teams, rounding out broad leadership expertise and capabilities both in the ANZ market and globally.

Bass himself commented, “The media landscape is changing rapidly, and clients are increasingly looking for simplicity while still wanting to access diverse capabilities and world-class innovation, but with local smarts. Over the last few years, I’ve been observing how dentsu has transformed and differentiated themselves in the ANZ market. It’s exciting for our industry, our clients, and the future generation of our talent where creativity everywhere creates so much more value.”

He added, “Dentsu has turned a corner and is gaining significant momentum in market. I was inspired to join the business not only because of the journey the team has been on under Angela’s innovative leadership, but the vision for what’s next. This includes working alongside a group of people who are genuinely committed to impactful outcomes that benefit clients, their people, and the broader community.”

Bass will be joining the business from 1 August 2022. He will be supported by a senior leadership team across Carat, iProspect, and dentsu X.

Meanwhile, in other regional offices of the network, fresh leadership is also being inaugurated within the media team such as dentsu Philippines’ Mako Chaves as its new head of media.

Singapore – Dentsu International has announced the appointment of Robert Gilby as the new chief executive officer for Asia-Pacific, effective on 5 September this year.

He will be responsible for unifying the APAC region’s 11,600 talented people in 18 markets around dentsu’s global ambition to be the most integrated network in the world. In addition, he has 30 years’ experience in the media and entertainment industry and has worked in Asia Pacific for over 25 years.

Gilby joins dentsu from Nielsen where he is president for APAC responsible for building relationships with key media owners, brands and agencies to deliver audience insights across the media ecosystem. Prior to that, he was CEO and founder, Blue Hat Ventures, an investment and advisory firm focussed on identifying and commercialising high-growth businesses in the digital media sector in Asia Pacific.

He has held non-executive board and advisory roles at the Ministry of Communications & Information, the InfoComm Media Development Authority and the Singapore Media Festival.

In his new role, he will be based in Singapore reporting to Wendy Clark, global CEO at Dentsu International, and joins the Dentsu International Executive team.

Speaking on his appointment, he said, “I was instantly drawn to dentsu’s compelling vision with its rich heritage as the only holding company born out of Asia. It is a privilege to be leading this region with the world looking to the Asia Pacific region as its GDP growth is forecasted to remain strong, the emerging middle-class booms and rapid digitisation and investment in homegrown platforms leapfrog existing technologies.”

He added, “Dentsu’s ability to understand people better than anyone else and vision for horizontal creativity coupled with these market conditions creates an exciting opportunity for brands to thrive.”

Meanwhile, Clark commented, “Rob is an exceptionally well-rounded leader with a progressive approach that deeply understands the future of the industry and opportunities for growth, for our people, our clients and our business.”

She added, “Importantly, he clearly demonstrated his long-term vision, values-based leadership style and passion for building high-performance, diverse teams that is fundamental to the way we do business at dentsu.”

India – dentsu international has created an entirely new global creative network, ‘Dentsu Creative’, which unites its creative agencies, including DentsuMB, 360i, and Isobar, and expands its entertainment, earned attention, and experience capabilities.

The new global creative network is part of a broader strategy aimed at simplifying client engagement and injecting creativity in everything dentsu international does, all backed by a depth and breadth of creative capabilities that are unparalleled in the market. It seeks to transform brands and businesses through the lens of modern creativity, which looks to deliver ideas that create culture, change society and invent the future.

Led by Fred Levron, chief creative officer at dentsu international, ‘Dentsu Creative’ will be comprised of 9,000 creative experts in 46 markets connected to 37,000 media and CXM experts across dentsu international and collaborate closely with the agency’s creative team in Japan. In the near future, further leadership announcements will be made as the new network brings in the next generation of strategic, production, business, and creative leaders.

Levron noted, “Clients, talent and the industry at large are craving for a change: in the way we build brands, in the way we collaborate and in the role we give to creativity. If the current players have set the rules of the previous century, we have the ambition to set the rules for the decades to come.”

‘Dentsu Creative’ blends dentsu’s unique DNA of 120-year-old Japanese heritage and craft with its rich experience of building brands in the modern media landscape. Using customer intelligence to deliver ideas that are big enough to live anywhere, bold enough to chart new executional territory and rich enough to connect personally with millions.

Moreover, a striking visual identity has been crafted as a creative expression of East meeting West, a signal of the network’s dedication to craft and the transformative power of creativity and to help ‘Dentsu Creative’ attract and retain the best creative talent.

Wendy Clark, global CEO at dentsu international, said that they are fortunate to draw from their Japanese heritage steeped in a relentless focus on craft, innovation, and creativity.

“This legacy inspired our vision for modern creativity that was born in Japan and raised in a connected world. ‘Dentsu Creative’ offers a simplified, modern creative proposition that answers clients’ needs for us to break down agency silos and inefficiencies and seamlessly connect our talent around the right client opportunities at the right time,” added Clark.

Meanwhile, Amit Wadhwa, Dentsu Creative’s CEO for India, said, “With ‘Dentsu Creative’, we will unite our creative talent under one brand; this will further simplify client engagements and strengthen our creative prowess. Moving with times is important and now is the time to transform brands and businesses through the lens of Modern Creativity. ‘Dentsu Creative’ ensures the best output for our clients and the best opportunities for our people, which is the most exciting part for me.”

Ajay Gahlaut, Dentsu Creative’s group chief creative officer for India, said, “With ‘Dentsu Creative’, we will transform the creative face of dentsu as a network. As we add modern creativity to all the disciplines within the network and combine them, we will create a new-age powerhouse. Our aim is to bring profit and purpose together for our clients and our people. This is what the industry has been waiting for, and we are the forerunners of this breakthrough. Exciting times ahead!”

This launch follows Dentsu Group’s February 2022 announcement of a JP¥ 250 to 300b acquisition investment fund for 2022 to 2024.

Taipei, Taiwan – Dentsu International has announced key appointments in its branch in Taiwan namely Tomonori Inasaka as chief transformation officer and Taku Ozaki as chief client officer for Japanese business.

The new appointments are part of its business operations transformation to strategise and streamline its teaming platforms for client services and future innovative business model solutions.

With 25-years’ experience in media and communication, Inasaka joined Dentsu Inc. in 2012 where he helped drive the growth in product development for dentsu X. Prior to joining dentsu Taiwan, he was the representative officer at Dentsu Group Inc. London office since August 2017, where he was responsible for business development opportunities and client servicing between dentsu Japan and dentsu International at EMEA and global level.

Speaking on his appointment, he said, “Taiwan is always recognized as one of the focused key markets in the dentsu group. I am incredibly honoured for the opportunity to be part of this big family. As part of the business transformation, I will be working with the management team closely to develop various business initiatives with upcoming projects in the pipeline and leverage on my cross-regional experiences in Japan, APAC and EMEA to meet with the growing business needs in the Taiwanese market.”

Meanwhile, with over 20 years in the business development and account management for both International and Japanese clients, Ozaki joined dentsu Inc. in 2004 where he was responsible for the dentsu client network expansion across Japan and its overseas account servicing division. He was also a former general manager for the client servicing team in the business producers division for Dentsu Inc.

“Japanese enterprises have always placed a priority on the Taiwanese market, and with my extensive experience in business development and client servicing, I hope to develop more strategic partnerships and continue to expand our footprint in the market,” Ozaki said regarding his appointment.

Jennifer Tang, CEO of dentsu Taiwan, commented “Dentsu is constantly striving for breakthroughs in transformation and leading the industry forward. We are actively recruiting experts in the field and cultivating talents both locally and globally to implement the dentsu client-centric model while developing the areas of sustainability, Metaverse and CXM. With the addition of Mr Inasaka and Mr Ozaki to the dentsu Taiwan leadership team, I am confident that we will be able to continue to build on our organisational transformation to deliver operational excellence and business performance.”

Singapore – Dentsu International has been appointed by global technology company Lenovo to be its paid media partner in the Asia-Pacific region. Through the appointment, dentsu will work closely with Lenovo in the region to support its broader marketing transformation journey while helping the company grow its Global Media Strategy Center of Excellence.

The selection follows a competitive review that began last year and was led by Merkle B2B, a dentsu company. In addition, the partnership will also draw on dentsu’s talent and capabilities in the APAC region for full customer journey planning and activation across consumer, commercial, and small and medium-sized business (SMB) segments, while aiming to streamline today’s fragmented digital market and enhance performance measurement of its media investment.

Michael McLaren, EVP for high-tech/B2B at dentsu and global CEO of Merkle B2B, said, “Lenovo’s hybrid in-house model is a data and technology solution with a rich first-party data set that we envision will pair perfectly well with our adtech capabilities. We are proud to be entrusted with Lenovo’s paid media business and look forward to working collaboratively with them on their marketing acceleration journey.”

Lenovo’s in-house and agency partner teams will spearhead the company’s hybrid operating model to unlock the full potential of its strengths as a global organisation. With the appointment, dentsu and Merkle B2B will manage the strategy, planning and buying for Lenovo with a focus on data convergence, performance measurement and paid media.

Meanwhile, Gina Qiao, senior vice president and chief strategy and marketing officer at Lenovo, commented, “As the technology and marketing industries undergo a profound transformation in an increasingly fragmented digital ecosystem, marketing needs to adapt and modernise as we navigate this new environment. We look forward to working with our new agency partners to continue innovating how and where we tell Lenovo’s vision of smarter technology for all, and to further advance the industry.”

London, United Kingdom – Global media and digital marketing communications company dentsu International has announced its new chief operating officer, Nnenna Ilomechina, effective by May 2022. She will be reporting directly to Wendy Clark, global CEO at dentsu International.

Bringing over 20 years of market-leading digital and transformation experience, Ilomechina will focus on the effective execution of the business strategy and transformation programme critical to delivering integrated clients solutions across media, CXM and creative, and the long-term success of the business.

She had moved from Accenture Strategy where she has been managing director and partner, as well as head of communications for media and high tech (CMT) strategy practice for UK & Ireland, since 2016. Her career has also seen strategic leadership roles at Alix Partners and Sapient, which is now Publicis Sapient.

Speaking about her appointment, Ilomechina shared that the company is dynamic and modern organization, and have been truly impressed by the resilience, authenticity and openness of the leaders she has met.

“Wendy has set an ambitious agenda to become the most integrated agency network. I am energized by the opportunity to work together with the exceptional talent within dentsu, across media, CXM and creative to create an environment and operational infrastructure that will enable dentsu to seamlessly offer a truly integrated client experience, making our teams successful and delivering long-term value for dentsu,” she stated.

Meanwhile, Clark shared that she is delighted to welcome Nnenna to their executive team in May, thanking former CCO Neil Gissler for his outstanding contributions to both dentsu and Merkle and wishing him the very best in his retirement.

“Nnenna’s proven capability and rich experience leading transformative outcomes across digital, technology, media, and business services make her the perfect addition to our global executive team. She’s an exceptional leader with the rare combination of business savvy, operational know-how, cultural sensitivity and a deep understanding of people and their motivations. This fusion of capability is critical for dentsu as we move into the final phases of our own transformation,” she explained.