17521: Dentsu Difference Disappearing & Disappointing.

 

MediaPost reported from Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Dentsu Global CEO Takeshi Sano, who admitted facing the same problems as other holding companies—which he hopes to address with the same solutions including agility and adaptability, simplifying the portfolio, and client-centric focus. Oh, and he made references to AI integration too.

 

Things are bad in Adland when the only non-White holding company appears to be more vanilla than the White holding companies.

 

Dentsu Challenges: Pace Of Change, Complexity, Sameness, Says CEO Sano

 

By Steve McClellan

 

Dentsu’s Takeshi Sano notched his first major industry appearance as Global CEO on the Cannes Lions main stage Tuesday in an interview with CNBC’s Julia Boorstin.  

 

Dentsu’s major challenges, he said, are similar to the broader industry, including the pace of change, complexity, and competitive differentiation. 

 

Dentsu, he said, tries to remain agile in the face of constant change and has sought to simplify its business to make it more accessible to clients globally. 

 

Client stickiness hasn’t been a problem in Japan where many clients have been doing business with the firm for more than 100 years. In part Sano attributes the firm’s ability to sustain such long-term relationships via a culture focused on “client centricity.” 

 

Boorstin noted that such relationships aren’t common outside of Japan and wondered if one of Dentsu’s goals was generate “century clients” outside of the country. “Hopefully,” Sano responded. “If we focus on client results, we can achieve long-term relationships.” 

 

Asked how he is thinking about AI and innovation, Sano technology expands possibilities. The challenge for companies and talent is selecting and applying the right possibilities to optimal benefit. 

 

“AI can’t define the future, or identify issues or goals,” he said. Those areas will remain for humans to grapple with. 

17476: Dentsu Deploys Duplicative Dumbness.

 

MediaPost reported Dentsu flattened its EMEA org chart, which squashed the EMEA CEO, a 20-year veteran now being squeezed out of the holding company.

 

Gee, that move looks familiar.

 

Dentsu Global CEO Takeshi Sano declared, “Since stepping into the Global CEO role, my focus has been on building a simpler, more agile and an even more client-centric dentsu. Our evolved cluster model in EMEA reflects that commitment. It reduces complexity, brings leadership closer to clients, and improves our ability to collaborate, deploying talent and capabilities with speed.”

 

Gee, that scheme sounds familiar. Oh, right—it’s what every CEO from a holding company or single White operating company is saying.

 

Dentsu Flattens EMEA Org Chart, Regional Heads To Report To Sano

 

By Steve McClellan

 

Dentsu today announced what it called a “simplified model” in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) that will have Dentsu executives Annette Male, Sawomir Stepniewski, and Mariano Di Benedetto managing broader sections of the region and reporting directly to recently appointed global CEO Takeshi Sano. 

 

With the new reorganization, the position of EMEA CEO is eliminated and long-time company veteran and EMEA CEO André Andrade will leave Dentsu after more than 20 years with the firm. Giulio Malegori, executive senior advisor, Dentsu & chairman, Dentsu EMEA, will continue in his post. 

 

Sano stated in a release announcing the move that “Since stepping into the Global CEO role, my focus has been on building a simpler, more agile and an even more client-centric dentsu. Our evolved cluster model in EMEA reflects that commitment. It reduces complexity, brings leadership closer to clients, and improves our ability to collaborate, deploying talent and capabilities with speed.” 

 

Under the new setup, Stepniewski will manage the “core cluster” of Central Europe. Male will lead the Northern Europe cluster, expanding her remit beyond the UK and Ireland to include Nordics, Benelux and the Baltics.  

 

Di Benedetto will lead the Western & Southern Europe and MEA cluster, expanding his remit to take on Spain, Portugal, France and Sub-Saharan Africa, in addition to his current remit of Italy, Greece, Israel, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Qatar and Türkiye. 

 

The changes are effective in July.   

 

The EMEA management reorganization is not a template for other regions, a company rep stressed. “Each regional approach is specific to client needs and local market dynamics,” he said, noting the recent promotion of Beth Ann Kaminkow to CEO, Americas and chief global client officer. She was previously North America CEO. 

17418: On The New Dentsu Mantra.

MediaPost reported newly appointed Dentsu Global CEO Takeshi Sano declared, “Client-centricity is our new mantra.”

 

WTF was the old mantra? Egocentricity is our mantra…? Eccentricity is our mantra…?

 

Dentsu’s Sano: ‘Client-Centricity Is Our New Mantra’

 

By Steve McClellan

 

Over the past year, Tokyo-based ad group Dentsu had seriously considered selling its international holdings, given its inability to drive significant growth outside of its home market for several years. 

 

But after months of discussions with potential suitors, no deals emerged.  

 

And according to newly installed Global CEO Takeshi Sano, a top priority now is to get the foreign operations back on track “aiming for an early recovery of competitiveness and profitability.” 

 

Sano issued his statement today, his first day on job after being appointed to the global CEO post in February. He retains his responsibilities as CEO of Dentsu Japan. 

 

With the renewed focus on shoring up international operations, Sano also asserted that the Japan business would continue to grow “while expanding its strengths more broadly across the global organization.” 

 

He said the company has reduced layers of management and has placed “much of our global leadership directly under the Global CEO. This allows us to gain greater clarity and faster responsiveness to the pace of business and our industry.” 

 

“Client-centricity is our new mantra,” Sano stated. 

 

“In particular, we will further advance two key strengths. First is agility—anticipating client needs and leading with speed and flexibility. Second is deep and advanced collaboration across capabilities—bringing together and orchestrating Dentsu’s diverse expertise to ensure true integration is a differentiating multiplier and delivering fully integrated solutions.” 

 

Driving transformation across its businesses and culture is part of the strategy, Sano added. “In turn this will strengthen our global network in which diverse Dentsu talent can thrive across borders and areas of expertise.” 

 

In 2025, Japan was the company’s only growth market, posting a full-year gain of 6.2%. All other regions were down including the Americas, which posted a 6.2% organic revenue decline for the year.   

 

When it posted full-year results for last year in February, the company said the outlook for 2026 was flat to 1% growth. That includes a forecasted gain of 2% to 3% for the home market, a 2% decline in the Americas and 1% decline in both Europe-Middle East-Africa and Asia Pacific.