dentsu SG makes new leadership appointments, charts return to pre-pandemic growth

Dentsu Singapore has bolstered its team the appointment of Preeti Mascarenhas (pictured left) as chief strategy officer, dentsu Singapore. Additionally, Florian Lacombe (pictured centre) has been promoted to head of operations, while Prema Techinamurthi (pictured right) has been promoted to MD, creative group - both under dentsu Singapore.

As chief strategy officer, Mascarenhas will lead strategy for key integrated clients and pitches, and solutions development. She was formerly head of strategy at Mindshare, based in Mumbai, India; according to her LinkedIn. Meanwhile, Lacombe, formerly head of activation, media group, will oversee the market’s business transformation journey and lead operational excellence for Singapore. According to his LinkedIn, Lacombe was previously with iPorspect for over three years; where he worked as regional director, performance, and later head of performance and client activation.

Lastly, Techinamurthi, formerly senior business director, will be responsible for delivering excellence and driving business growth as well as transformation to further unlock the full potential of the creative service line. She replaces Phil Adrien, who will be focusing on his role as CEO, Creative APAC. Dentsu Singapore said in a statement that Techinamurthi has been at the forefront of the agency's "Force for Good and Growth" commitment in her work for Float Foods and Sustenir, as well as for dentsu Gaming, where she led the account wins of two new regional gaming clients and also led dentsu’s largest regional client, Toyota, in launching a successful regional e-sports tournament in partnership with ONE E-Sports. According to her LinkedIn, Techinamurthi previously worked at Iris as business director for close to two years.

The appointment and promotions come as dentsu Singapore CEO, Prakash Kamdar is expected to commence his additional role as CEO of dentsu Indonesia on 1 February. The appointment is expected to ignite synergistic opportunities across both markets and a bigger canvas to achieve "good and growth" in the region going forward.

Additionally, the agency delivered a strong close to 2021, charting a return to pre-pandemic growth as it commits to more purpose-led growth in 2022. According to dentsu Singapore, its strong performance for 2021 has been fuelled by its focus on strategic sectors, such as health and gaming, and sustainable growth; further integration of its offerings; and a strengthened eco-system of partnerships in the region, including with Google and Salesforce. 

Kamdar said that while 2021 has continued to show the agency that being nimble to change is more important than ever for businesses wanting to succeed in the new norm, several trends will fuel the winds of change in 2022; which dentsu Singapore sees as opportunities to raise the bar in its solutions to meet the demand for more data-driven experiences, support the growth of pandemic-related lifestyles such as in eCommerce, Gaming and eHealth, and ride on the acceleration of the metaverse. 

He added that profit in purpose will be a focal point for business in 2022, as it looks to take responsible growth and consumption seriously for the sake of people and the planet. Therefore, as part of the agency's commitment to being a "Force for Good and Growth", it will be focusing on even more opportunities to support sustainable partnerships this year.

"Mascarenhas, Lacombe and Techinamurthi are all stellar leaders with proven track record in each of their areas of expertise. They have taken on strategic roles that are intended to fortify our leadership strength and future-proof our business in Singapore. As the world shifts under our feet, their appointments give me further confidence of dentsu Singapore’s ability to navigate 2022, to deliver relevant and compelling strategy and solutions, and to be the most integrated network agency," he said.

In November last year, Manulife appointed dentsu as its global media and creative partner to amplify and evolve its brand across markets. This came after the brand announced the next phase of its strategy, with an emphasis on its Asia and Global Wealth and Asset Management businesses and digital transformation including its journey to become the most digital, customer-centric global company in its industry. This came just a month after the agency won the global media remit of Standard Chartered , beating out Omnicom Media Group. R3 handled the pitch and the contract is a five-year-long one. Dentsu has been working with Standard Chartered since 2017. 

Additionally, 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 last year, dentsu gaming will provide access to specialist strategy, activation and original intellectual property (IP) 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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