Dentsu’s DAN becomes Clark’s new Dentsu International
Dentsu Aegis International was the Dentsu business outside Japan, consisting of Aegis (media buyers Carat and Vizeum chiefly), customer agency Merkle and various creative agencies. Chief among these was/is Mcgarybowen, now revelling in the title of Densumcgarrybowen.
Now the whole shebang outside Japan is to be known as Dentsu International, the first major move by new CEO Wendy Clark, formerly of DDB and before that Coca-Cola. “International” is rather out of fashion these days with even the tiniest businesses purporting to be global but Dentsu’s Japanese bosses seem intent on maintaining the line between its two operations. Suggesting, perhaps, that they haven’t ruled out a sale of International if the money is right. International reportedly employs 66,000 people.
Clark (above) says: “This represents an important milestone in the evolution of our international business as we build on Dentsu’s rich legacy of innovation and industry leadership along with the dynamic growth story of Dentsu Aegis Network.
“Our business provides our clients and our people with the best of both worlds (Japan and International presumably), helping them to achieve meaningful progress against a backdrop of unprecedented change and disruption.”
Aegis (once owned by UK creative agency WCRS bizarrely) was bought for £3.2bn in 2012 when it was a UK listed company. To most people Aegis meant Carat, once the biggest French media buyer and broker.