The changes aim to enhance execution excellence and drive stronger growth outcomes for the group’s clients. Under the new management structure, dentsu will build on its existing business foundation, global organisational culture, and strengthened governance to accelerate transformation, deepen client trust, and ensure sustainable corporate value.

A key change in the global management team is Sano’s appointment as president and global CEO. He currently serves as CEO of dentsu Japan and deputy global chief operating officer at dentsu.

Sano, who also serves as president and CEO of Dentsu Inc., the group’s core operating company generating roughly 40% of net revenue and over half of underlying operating profit, has led the company to 11 consecutive quarters of revenue growth and two years of high profits. Since 2023, he has also overseen the growth and global expansion of dentsu’s Business Transformation (BX) as BX CEO, dentsu.

From 2025, while serving as deputy global COO of dentsu and CEO of dentsu Japan, Sano strengthened the integration of domestic and international operations, supported Japanese clients expanding overseas, and extended dentsu Japan’s capabilities into global markets. Continuing as CEO of dentsu Japan in 2026, he will maintain growth momentum in Japan while driving synergies between domestic and international businesses, supporting the execution of the midterm management plan, and promoting recovery and growth in overseas markets.

To ensure faster decision-making and execution at Dentsu Inc., Sano will step down from his role as representative director, president, and CEO of Dentsu Inc. Chisato Matsumoto, currently director of Dentsu Inc., will assume the position.

Speaking about his new role, Sano said, “Amid rapid shifts in our business and competitive environment, we continue to thoughtfully evolve our leadership approach and management practices to support the pace of our transformation and strengthen execution, all while maximising our contribution to client growth.”

He added, “Dentsu will continue to sharpen the distinctive value that sets us apart and position ourselves as a true growth partner, supporting clients consistently from strategy through to execution. By creating momentum for our clients, partners, people, and society, we will reinforce trust with stakeholders and steadily advance the sustainable enhancement of our corporate value.”

Sano succeeds Hiroshi Igarashi, who will step down from the group management team along with Arinobu Soga, executive vice president and global chief governance officer, and Giulio Malegori, executive vice president and global chief operating officer and chairman, dentsu Americas, who will become executive senior advisor.

The group has also formed a new global management team to strengthen execution and accelerate transformation. The restructuring eliminates the global COO role overseeing all regions and the global president role overseeing all practices, allowing regional CEOs and practice presidents—who have direct client relationships—to report directly to the global CEO, improving unity and enabling swifter client-focused decisions.

To further accelerate transformation, dentsu has appointed a global chief transformation officer and a global chief corporate affairs officer.

Meanwhile, Yoshimasa Watahiki, COO, dentsu Japan, will take on the role of vice president and global chief corporate affairs officer, continuing as COO, dentsu Japan while expanding his responsibilities globally. He is also scheduled to assume the position of director and representative executive officer of dentsu, pending approvals.

Shigeki Endo will retain his role as global CFO and is also scheduled to assume the position of director and executive officer at dentsu, pending approvals.

The global management team, consisting of 23 members, oversees operations in approximately 120 countries, including the global headquarters. Members handling executive duties are referred to as global executive management.

The post Dentsu undergoes major leadership overhaul, names Takeshi Sano as new global CEO appeared first on MARKETECH APAC.

“Before we become CEOs, we are middle managers after all,” said the podcast’s ‘About’ on Spotify. 

The show is already three episodes in, with the pilot podcast launching on 23 August. For its latest episode, Caccam conversed with top corporate consultant in the Philippines and Apprentice Asia winner, Jonathan Yabut. 

When asked why focus on management instead of marketing in the podcast, Caccam shared to MARKETECH APAC, “There are tons of books and articles that talk about marketing, but there’s not a lot on middle management. While training my team [at AirAsia], especially those who just got promoted to manager, I realized there are certain skills that I thought were natural, but apparently were not and when I dug deeper, I realized managing in the middle is more complex than it looks.” 

Admittedly an introvert, Caccam shared that more than the medium appealing to her natural strength as a person, she chose podcast because she believes a podcast is able to create the environment “where you are listening to a friend speaking over the phone,” and that in that way, it seems more personal and intimate.

Caccam adds, “I want to create that space where the show sounds like your usual pantry session where you exchange [pieces of] advice with your workmates.” 

Caccam entered AirAsia in 2014, and prior to landing her marketing head role in the airline, she assumed the position marketing manager and senior manager for international marketing.

She shared that topics she discusses in the podcast are actually topics she has already touched base with her team in AirAsia first. 

“They are willing guinea pigs and I am so grateful to them. Because we have a direct relationship, aside from the topics discussed in the show, I do have one-on-ones with them so the mentoring is still personalized,” shared Caccam.

Each episode of the podcast is less than 30 minutes in order to, Caccam said, cater to the fast-paced schedule of managers. The topics are picked based on information gathered from an initial survey of new managers, and those who are already head of departments which range from discussing the basics of the middle manager’s dilemma to navigating the first six months as a new manager. 

According to Caccam, the show would probably be less than 20 episodes for the first season, but the idea is that topics will also mature with the audience with the assumption that they are also growing in their role.

“Possibly the topics can tackle more complicated [or] complex situations in the future! Right now, it’s testing the market. It’s a new podcast, barely a month in, but what I really love is it has an average of 80% retention, so those who are listening are really interested!” shared Caccam.

In January this year, MARKETECH APAC sat down for a virtual interview with Caccam on MARKETECH Mondays to get to know her career journey in marketing. 

In the interview, she shared her philosophy in leadership, “I always make it a point to be more self-aware [because of that perspective]. For example, if your team is not doing well, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re not good, but also because maybe, it’s your style of leading them, and maybe there’s something more that you need to do from your end so they could do better.”

The post AirAsia PH’s head of marketing launches own podcast to tackle middle management appeared first on MARKETECH APAC.