Krishnan Menon heads to Merkle as APAC client chief after 25 years with WPP

Dentsu’s tech-enabled data-driven CX management arm Merkle has appointed industry-heavyweight and Wunderman Thompson veteran Krishnan Menon (pictured) to the newly created position of chief client officer for Merkle and dentsu CXM APAC.

In the new role, Menon will be reporting to Z Shen, president Merkle APAC.  Menon will join Merkle on 20 December 2021, and will oversee Merkle’s client services delivery across the region. Tasked with elevating Merkle’s integrated client management approach and delivering the full value of dentsu’s CXM capabilities, Menon will also work across the dentsu network to expand on existing Merkle/CXM client relationships within the creative and media service lines.

“As clients across the region make rapid strides towards being customer-centric and purpose-driven, I will focus on bringing them the best that Merkle and dentsu have to offer,” said Menon. “Together with the outstanding talent at Merkle across the APAC markets, I’m confident that we’ll bring added value and growth to our clients’ businesses."

As CCO APAC, Menon will nurture and grow client relationships at Merkle across the region with a focus on helping world-class brands deliver customer experiences that are meaningful and valuable to people everywhere.

“Menon is the perfect leader to guide Merkle’s growth and maturity, as we evolve our client services in lock-step with the big investments in capabilities and specialisation we’re bringing to markets like Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Singapore and others,” said Shen. “Merkle has the talent perfectly suited to accelerating our entire industry and Menon will ensure our clients get the best of us.”

The move to create the chief client officer role comes shortly after Merkle expanding its presence throughout the region. In August, Dentsu Indonesia launched Merkle, led by the COO of iProspect, Arshad Rahman and supported by some key hires including Ammar Prayitno as CXM solutions director of Merkle Indonesia.  In the same month, the Merkle brand expanded to Hong Kong, marking a significant step in Merkle’s global growth strategy, adding to its footprint in the APAC region. Nathan Petralia was appointed as the general manager for Merkle & dentsu CXM Hong Kong, reporting to Simone Tam, CEO, dentsu International Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Menon moves from Wunderman Thompson, where he served as chief client and growth officer of APAC where he was focused on the top clients across the APAC region and on building client-centric teams and practices. Menon has spent almost 25 years at WPP across Ogilvy India, Kinetic, Wunderman and Wunderman Thompson. He has worked across every industry vertical and on some of the world’s biggest brands. 

In a statement to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a spokesperson from Wunderman Thompson said, "We will miss him and thank him for his enormous contribution to our business over the many years he has been with us. We are currently reviewing options for his replacement and look forward to finding the right person for this very important role.”

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In an exclusive interview with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Menon shared that today, experiences that are powered by data and built with the customer at the center will be the ones that prevail. Brands that deliver a customer centric experience that is truly end to end, with commerce built into every part of the experience, will go the added distance. Nonetheless, brands must also remember that while technology is the enabler, it isn’t the end goal.

“I am hopeful that 2022 will see brands become more conscious of the consumer than ever before,” he added.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What are some of the trends you are looking out for as we fast approach 2022?

The consumer is heading to a world which is much more defined by how soon a product can be available to them. As such, purchase decisions and brand choices will be made in smaller and smaller windows of time. This is supported by the fact that commerce is everywhere, so experiences will start to be end-to-end in every micro moment.

Giving the consumer the ability to convert at every stage of the conventional journey will be key and brands that are truly sustainable and purposeful will win.  Those that have values that are skin-deep will be left out.

In most of the world, wellbeing and mental health are now top of mind. This will play a role in shaping which brands are being responsible in the communities and will motivate customer choices. All of these will happen more and more in a low contact in our tech-enabled world as we recover from the experience of the pandemic.

I also think that the big trend for 2022 will be inclusivity, especially in the experience design space. How brands invest in making their end to end journeys in a manner more inclusive to people with disabilities and making them more effective for the older demographic (which is key in some big Asian markets) or to diverse consumer groups, will be very important. Tech, through voice, AI, AR and VR will make the world of consumer experiences more accessible and this is something I am excited to see and be part of.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE:  What are some of the changes you hope to see in the marketing industry?

I’d hope that brands become more honest, and marketing becomes more responsible. I’ve been watching cricket and nine out of 10 ads are urging people to borrow money or gamble. I don’t see how that adds value to the community, especially at a time when the economies are suffering so much. I would hope that the marketing industry would become more accountable for its own actions in 2022. I also foresee that purpose will be a key driver of the marketing agenda in the coming years but I hope that this purpose won’t stop at the tagline and that brands and clients will live those values.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What is one key advice you have for brands looking to embark on CX transformations?

Start with the data. If you can streamline how you get consent, collect, unify and use consumer data securely and effectively, building a customer-centric and personalised customer experience becomes easier.

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Dentsu brings customer experience management agency Merkle to Hong Kong