Dentsu Group creates new global management structure

Dentsu Group has appointed a new leadership team to drive its global business forward from FY 2023. The creation of a new global management structure follows dentsu's intention to integrate Dentsu International and Dentsu Japan Network into a single dentsu organisation around the world from 1 January 2023 and will strengthen the voice of the client in all strategy discussions. 

The simplified structure will allow the business to foster agile decision-making, strategic focus and clarity across the group whilst driving operational excellence across all functions. There will be a change of the formation of the group management team  to accelerate business transformation and further enhance management diversity to achieve business growth and the sustainable enhancement of corporate value.

The group management team is headed by president and CEO Hiroshi Igarashi (pictured) and consists of 36 globally diverse group management members, including the 21-person group executive management with executive responsibility. The team directly governs the four business regions worldwide. The group executive management constitutes the group executive management meeting, the executive decision-making body, whose members are appointed by the president and CEO, as well as the heads of business and corporate responsibility in key areas.

CEOs from across the four business regions come together to optimise the global business and align around a truly global management framework, including the selection of the first non-Japanese global CFO and the hiring of a new and internationally experienced CHRO from Google Japan. There will be an appointment of chief global client officer and chief integrated solutions officer to align dentsu closely to its clients and drive growth.

There will also be the appointment of chief governance officer, chief culture officer and chief sustainability officers to strengthen dentsu's environmental, social and governance efforts across clients and society. There will also be another appointment of chief of staff to directly work with the president and CEO on policy setting, implementation and decision making.

Igarashi said, "We have formed a global group management team to further contribute to our clients' business growth and the realisation of a better society by strengthening our integrated growth solutions and to enhance our corporate value.”

He added: “Under this team, we will realise the potential of our 65,000-strong, worldwide employee-base, bringing together their unique strengths within the countries and regions in which dentsu operates. This will allow us to achieve global business growth and improve profitability through synergies and increased efficiency.”

Through this renewal of the management structure, the company will not only achieve the goals of its medium-term management plan, which concludes in FY 2024 but also increase the certainty of long-term, sustainable growth beyond that date. At the same time, the team will contribute to the betterment of their customers, partners, employees, consumers and society as a whole, Igarashi added. 

21 Group executive management appointments 

• Haruhiko Hirate will be appointed as executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer, Dentsu Group.
• Soichi Takahashi will be appointed as chief strategy officer and chief integration officer, Dentsu Group.
• Miho Tanimoto will be appointed as chief HR officer, Dentsu Group..
• Jean Lin will be appointed as chief culture officer, Dentsu Group.
• Jeremy Miller will be appointed as chief communications officer, Dentsu Group.
• Dominic Shine will be appointed as chief information officer, Dentsu Group.
• Alison Zoellner will be appointed as general counsel, Dentsu Group.
• Masaya Nakamura will be appointed as chief integrated solutions officer, dentsu. 
• Takeshi Sano will be appointed as CEO, business transformation, dentsu. 
• Jacki Kelley will be appointed as CEO, dentsu Americas and chief global client officer, dentsu. 
• Giullo Malegori will be appointed as CEO, dentsu EMEA.
• Rob Gilby will be appointed as CEO, dentsu APAC.
• Michael Komasinski will be appointed as CEO, CXM, international markets, dentsu. 
• Peter Hujiboom will be appointed as CEO, media, international markets, dentsu. 
• Fred Levron will be appointed as global chief creative officer, dentsu (excluding Japan). 
• Yoshimasa Watahiki will be appointed as chief operating officer, dentsu Japan.
• Nnenna Ilomechina will be appointed as chief operating officer, international markets, dentsu. 

Igarashi and Arinobu Soga will remain as representative directors, and Nick Priday and Norihiro Kuretani will remain as directors.

15 Group management appointments 

Strategy planning and business area

• Yoshiki Ishihara will be appointed as chief of staff. 
• Yoshinobu Ise will be appointed as deputy chief strategy officer. 
• So Aoki will be appointed as deputy chief integration officer. 
• Tom Higgins will be appointed as deputy chief integration officer. 
• Manus Wheeler will be appointed as deputy chief of staff. 
• Noritaka Omi will also be appointed as deputy chief of staff. 
• Yasuhara Sasaki will be appointed as CEO, creative, dentsu Japan. 

Corporate area

• Nobuo Uehara will be appointed as head of internal audit, Dentsu Group.
• Jun Shibata will be appointed as deputy chief HR officer, Dentsu Group. 
• Toshiyuki Hirasawa will be appointed as deputy chief financial officer, Dentsu Group. 
• Tadashi Nagae will be appointed as head of corporate secretary and deputy general counsel, Dentsu Group. 
• Nobutaka Hayashi will be appointed as chief corpoerate affairs officer, dentsu Japan. 
• Hiroshi Chino will be appointed as chief financial officer, dentsu Japan. 
• Yuko Kitakaze will be appointed as chief sustainability officer, dentsu Japan. 
• Anna Lungley will be appointed as chief sustainability officer, international markets, dentsu. 

Igarashi joined dentsu in 1984, marking the start of more than three decades in various account management divisions. He has handled sectors as diverse as food & beverage, financial services, mobility, electronics, entertainment and retail, focusing in particular on business development and on the creation of solutions with roots in social issues and sports.

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