Dentsu Group changes leadership as it enters next phase of growth

Dentsu Group has promoted Hiroshi Igarashi to group president and CEO, effective March 2022. Igarashi will replace Toshihiro Yamamoto, who will retire from his roles as chairman of the board, representative director and president and CEO, dentsu Group. The change in leadership comes as the Group plans to build on its current momentum and lead it into the next phase of growth.

At the same time, Tim Andree will step down from his executive role to take on the role of non-executive chairman of the Board, effective after the approval of his appointment at the Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting in March 2022. This marks the first time the chairman and CEO and president roles are separated in the Group. In his new role, Andree will focus on driving collaboration, alignment, and continued sustainable growth. Dentsu Group said in a statement that Andree’s extensive experience with Japan-based multinationals and contributions throughout his tenure to expanding dentsu global operations make him well-suited to the chairman role. 

Prior to becoming executive chairman, Andree helmed the role of president and CEO, succeeding Jerry Buhlmann who stepped down at the end of 2018. Under Andree's leadership, Dentsu’s global operations grew organically and through acquisitions such as mcgarrybowen, 360i and Firstborn, among others.

Meanwhile, Yamamoto, who has led the Group for five years, said his retirement is timely as it comes following its diversification, including the completion of Merkle's integration; the pivot to data, insights, and consumer intelligence; and the transformation of the business and a return to growth.

"We exist to realise a better society by contributing to the growth of our clients, partners, people, and all consumers. These changes are designed to strengthen governance and advance the reforms and transformation that dentsu has established, to achieve sustainable growth and increase corporate value for the agency. I am confident that under the Group's new leadership, our people, our clients, and our business will enter a new and exciting chapter of change,” he added.

Igarashi, currently executive officer at dentsu japan network, and president and CEO of dentsu, said he was delighted and honoured to be appointed to the role and carry forward the strong legacy of an iconic global company with roots in Japan. "We have a wonderful opportunity to continue building business in partnership with our clients, powered by our unique dentsu blend of creativity, innovation, and customer-centricity,” he added.

Yamamoto will transition the executive officer responsibilities of president and CEO to Igarashi, effective 1 January 2022. Yamamoto will retire from his roles effective after approval at the Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting next March. Also effective from 1 January next year, Igarashi will become representative director, in addition to his executive roles of president and CEO. Meanwhile, the management of dentsu international will remain under the leadership of Wendy Clark, global CEO at dentsu international.

Additionally, dentsu promoted Michael Komasinski to the role of global CEO at Merkle, and a member of the dentsu international executive team, last month. In his new role, Komasinki reports to Clark, He replaces Craig Dempster, who will retire from the business at the end of the year. 

Separately, dentsu launched dentsu gaming in Asia Pacific, an integrated solution that brings together the gaming heritage and expertise of dentsu Japan network with the global scale and specialist capabilities within dentsu international. Launched in October, dentsu gaming provides access to specialist strategy, activation and original intellectual property development for brands seeking to connect with and navigate the gaming ecosystem. The offering is made available to brands in the Asia Pacific region via dentsu production, creative, CXM and media agencies, as well as globally via Carat, dentsu X, iProspect, Isobar, dentsumcgarrybowen, Merkle and the Content Business Design Centre within dentsu Inc. Brands such as Foot Locker, KFC, Mountain Dew and Subway have already jumped on board dentsu gaming.

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