Prakash Kamdar adds Dentsu Indonesia CEO role to remit as Maya Watono exits

Dentsu Asia Pacific has named Prakash Kamdar CEO of dentsu Indonesia, in addition to his current role as CEO, dentsu Singapore. The leadership team is further bolstered by the promotion of Wisnu Satya Putra to CEO of creative of dentsu Indonesia and Arshad Rahman to CEO, CXM dentsu Indonesia, both joining the executive team.

The appointment comes as  Maya Watono, CEO, dentsu Indonesia, leaves the business at the end of January to take on a role at Aviasi Pariwisata Indonesia for Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises, focusing on the development and promotion of Indonesia’s cultural, tourism, and aviation assets. As the new customer experience and marketing director, Watono will continue to be a stakeholder of the business and continue to champion its momentum and success. 

According to the agency, these appointments are pivotal to dentsu Asia Pacific’s strategy to lead Indonesia into its next phase of growth. Kamdar will commence his new role on 1 February 2022. Wisnu and Arshad’s appointments are effective immediately. 

Watono said: “People will always be our greatest asset and I am very happy to see the well-deserved promotions of Putra and Rahman to strengthen the talent bench at dentsu Indonesia. Personally, it has been my greatest desire to someday serve my country and that day has come, and I leave with a huge amount of confidence and assurance that the baton is now passed over to a proven and well-loved leader that I respect – Prakash.” 

Watono joined the dentsu business in 2017 through the acquisition of Dwi Sapta while she was managing director, and was promoted to CEO, dentsu Indonesia in January 2019.

Kamdar said: “Watono is an incredibly strong leader and has purposefully driven the Gotong Royong spirit that has seen the entire team working together as ‘one dentsu’. I have big shoes to fill and this is a challenge for the new year that I can’t wait to get started on.” 

Wendy Clark, global CEO, dentsu international said: “Under Watono’s leadership the Indonesia business has flourished and is recognised as one of the strongest agencies in the market, working with 15 out of Indonesia’s top 20 biggest advertisers. She has my utmost respect and fullest support in pursuing her dreams of serving her country, and we thank her for her services to the dentsu business.” 

Meanwhile, Kamdar also came into the dentsu network after the acquisition of his digital agency business in 2012 and was subsequently appointed CEO, Isobar Singapore. Taking the Isobar business from strength to strength, he was promoted to CEO, dentsu Singapore in 2019 and has successfully led the dentsu Singapore business through significant turnaround, driven by a laser focus on his Power of One strategy to make dentsu Singapore the most integrated agency network in the market as well as a Force for Good & Growth. Singapore services clients including Standard Chartered, PayPal, Starhub, Intel, Mastercard and Salesforce, as well as FoodTech and AgriTech start-ups such as Float Foods and Sustenir.  

“Kamdar is a highly-regarded digital native leader. His authentic management approach has guided the Singapore teams through the pandemic, resulting in the country’s highest-ever client satisfaction ratings with the business on track to return to pre-pandemic growth levels by the close of 2021. Together with industry veterans Putra and Rahman, they bolster the leadership team and bring fresh perspectives and a wealth of experience to the business,” Clark added.