India – Dentsu India has elevated Sujeet Behra to president of Carat, expanding his remit to include chief strategy officer of Dentsu Media, as part of a strategic reshuffle aimed at strengthening integrated strategy across its media operations.

Behra has been an integral part of Carat for over three years, managing multiple responsibilities as Carat North business head, chief growth officer and chief strategy officer. He has been instrumental in shaping the agency’s strategic roadmap, driving innovation and positioning it as a future-ready media agency in the ever-evolving media ecosystem.

Behra has been with Carat for over three years, holding roles such as Carat North business head, chief growth officer, and chief strategy officer. During this time, he has contributed to shaping the agency’s strategic direction and expanding its media capabilities.

In his new roles, he will oversee the strategic vision for both Carat and Dentsu Media, with a focus on developing collaborative, insight-led solutions aligned with evolving client and business priorities. He will also work closely with the leadership team to advance Dentsu’s efforts in integrating data, technology, and creativity across its media services.

Commenting on his appointment, Behra said, “I am honoured to be part of dentsu and Carat at such an exciting and transformative time. I have long admired the organisation’s commitment to creativity, innovation and, most importantly, client success.” 

He added, “My focus will be on fostering a collaborative and growth-orientated environment, where we can continue to push boundaries of creativity and deliver exceptional results for our client. Look forward to working with the talented team across dentsu to build upon this strong foundation and drive the organisation’s continued growth and success.”

The leadership change follows the departure of Sanchayeeta Verma, who has stepped down as CEO of Carat to explore new professional opportunities. Verma played a key role in driving the agency’s growth and fostering collaboration across the Dentsu network. With support from Behra and the broader leadership team, she helped steer the agency through a period of strategic momentum.

Behra now takes the lead in guiding the agency’s next phase of development. He will report to Amit Wadhwa, CEO of Dentsu Creative & Media Brands, South Asia.

“Sanchayeeta has played an incredible role in shaping Carat’s growth story – driving momentum, nurturing talent, and strengthening the agency’s strategic foundation. As she embarks on her next chapter, we wish her continued success in all her future endeavours,” Wadhwa said. 

He continued, “As we look ahead, Sujeet’s expanded mandate comes at a pivotal time. He brings sharp strategic thinking, a collaborative mindset, and a deep understanding of the evolving media landscape. His leadership reflects dentsu’s commitment to integrated thinking – where media, creative, and performance come together to drive business impact. This is a strong step forward in our journey to create connected, future-ready solutions for our clients.”

India – National steel company ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) has recently launched a new campaign called ‘Reimagineering’ which fuses reimagination and engineering–two key levers that will shape India’s growth and development over the next several decades.

Conceptualised alongside dentsu India’s iProspect, the campaign’s objective is to raise awareness and build imagery of a global new-age steel manufacturer committed to creating a brand-new future for the industry, people, and the planet. iProspect India has created a multi-media campaign architecture with an aim to accelerate the brand’s key vision in the market.

In addition, the campaign covers key touchpoints such as television with dominance in the news genre and front jackets in leading English and vernacular dailies to drive credibility. As a result, AM/NS India is associated with the ongoing FIFA World Cup as one of the digital sponsors.

Speaking on the campaign, Bibek Chattopadhyay, head of communications at ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India said, “We embarked on a journey almost a year back to craft the corporate identity and design for AM/NS India – a venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, two of the most valued brands in the metal and mining space worldwide.” 

He added, “With the 360-degree campaign, entailing media formats, we unveil a Young, Dynamic, Smart, Thoughtful, and Global architecture that elevates the brand presentation. Reimagineering – one world that eloquently puts forth our ambitions for the market we are privileged to serve – is rudimentary to our concept and reflects our brand philosophy, ‘Smarter Steels, Brighter Futures’.”

Meanwhile, Vinod Thadani, CEO of iProspect and chief digital growth officer at dentsu Media commented, “We are extremely proud to be part of this amazing campaign. The beauty of the campaign is in synchronisation of 6 very impactful KVs, a powerful and visually delighted TVC with melodious background score and multiple format renditions across touchpoints.” 

He added, “We planned the campaign [in] such a way so that each touchpoint [complemented] each other to establish the core proposition of the brand. I am confident post this campaign, AM/NS brand awareness will be enhanced significantly.”

Sydney, Australia – As part of the company’s stride to check out potential talents for the advertising and marketing industry, dentsu Media in ANZ has announced the launch of its learning and development program ‘Basecamp’ catered to interest high school students and university graduates. 

The program invites interested students to potentially learn and develop their advertising and marketing skills in order to score a position at any of dentsu’s multiple agencies.

Applications have opened with pre-screening until early December before assessment day mid-December and offers are given before Christmas. The program will then commence in February 2022.

Those joining the program will experience an interactive and immersive environment through four intensive learning sprints in strategy, digital, tech and data, and trading. The conclusion of the six-month program will give participants a chance to nab an executive role at one of dentsu’s media brands, namely Carat, iProspect, Dentsu X, or The Story Lab.

Sue Squillace, CEO of dentsu Media ANZ, the one who announced the project, said that the program is their stance of needing to act now in order to attract more diverse, motivated, and curious people to their business and to build their talent pipeline for the future. She added that the ‘war on talent’ isn’t just an important issue for them as a business, but also vital to the future of the industry.

Sue added, “Our commitment is simply to offer the next generation of talent the opportunity to experience dentsu in an environment that gives exposure to the best on-the-job training and the unrivaled knowledge and mentorship of our leaders. And better yet, we want to make it real; with participants landing a permanent role within our business.”

A dedicated group of dentsu leaders has been set up to build a rounded development program in partnership with L&D, People Team, and Agency Leadership. This will leverage media knowledge, publisher partnerships, and MFA for content development. 

All participants will have an executive mentor and a peer-level coach to guide them through the experience. They will also have extra support from the managing directors and general managers from each of the state offices, together with Amplifi, dentsu’s media innovation and investment arm, and training leads from Media Opps, a local media consultancy.

Lauren Small, managing director at Carat Sydney, said, “We’re thrilled to launch dentsu media Australia’s first early careers program; Basecamp, not only will it demonstrate the importance of investing in our future with diverse and fresh talent, but will also provide growth opportunities for new people managers within the business to develop and grow their leadership skills. Our graduates will not be defined by the qualification they hold, or education level they attain, but rather by their curiosity and a growth mindset.”

Meanwhile, Marcelle Gomez, general manager at iProspect NSW, added, “The shortage of talent in our industry is a test for us all. At dentsu, we have turned this challenge into an opportunity that will further differentiate our brands in the market. In a business that is built on and around our people, Basecamp confirms the commitment to our people, our willingness to invest in their future and equip them for successful careers with the company. We can’t wait to get started and help accelerate the learning of this future talent.”

Interested applicants for the program may apply for the respective websites for Sydney and Melbourne participants.

Virginia, USA – dentsu Media has expanded its existing partnership with media analytics company Comscore which will add dentsu’s M1 advanced audiences platform to its local market agreement.

One of Comscore’s services is instigating change in television measurement by enabling the adoption of advanced audiences and the move to impressions, which allow the industry to go beyond age and gender and evaluate based on consumer behaviors, interests and lifestyles.

“We believe in the meaningful progress that our agencies can deliver for our clients through the use of M1’s advanced audience capabilities for local investment, and Comscore’s transformative approach to data and currency makes us even stronger,” said Jennifer Hungerbuhler, EVP, managing director, local video and audio investment at dentsu Media

She added, “Furthermore, the integration of over 10 million additional households into Comscore’s measurement footprint was a real driver for us, and we look forward to transacting on the audience-based data in 2021.”

Meanwhile, Carol Hinnant, chief revenue officer at Comscore commented, “We are excited to continue our partnership with dentsu Media. They are forward thinkers and we are proud to expand our efforts with them.”