It was a transformation that earned Dentsu a lot of attention from the media two years ago, but to say that it cost them more than a few clients won’t be a stretch either. But like they say - creating something beautiful takes time, even if you have had a history of spreading your footprints in the advertising sphere in the country at a record pace.

Dentsu India’s (then DAN) revenues grew by 2200% in the eight years ending 2017, (as reported by IMPACT) riding on the back of acquisitions. The period is relevant because it was also the time when the Group released the most talked about agency campaign, proclaiming themselves as the number 2 network in the country. So, when the company shortly after the turn of the decade started contemplating folding its 23 agencies into 6 brands in India, it almost appeared that they were retracing their footsteps. Only they weren’t, the plan was much bigger, keeping in mind the changing requirements of the industry and the client, who from being thrilled at the prospect of working with 15 agencies earlier was now frowning at the thought of having to collaborate with all so many for one campaign.

So, is the plan working and has the restructuring exercise borne fruit yet? The network responds in the affirmative and shares that they have won a total of 108 Media accounts, 26 Creative accounts and 46 CXM accounts since March 2023, some of the popular names being Aditya Birla Capital, Motorola, Sony Entertainment Television, Sony SAB, Sony MAX & Sony MAX 2, Skore, Eva and MsChief, Bharat Benz, Gemini Oils, Drone Destination on the creative side and Welspun, Berger Paints, Bharat Benz on the media side.

Have they managed to mitigate the loss of marque accounts like Reckitt and Maruti on the media side and Airtel, Ikea, ITC- Fiama, Urban Company, Meta on the creative side? Well not quite, it appears and yet it is a great beginning armed with the new South Asia CEO Harsha Razdan’s industrious method of diving headlong into the root cause of the problem, both clients’ and their own.

When Dentsu’s global leaders Jean Lin, Group President of Global Practice and Will Swayne, Global Practice President of Media recently visited India, they spoke to e4m about why the industry will see a new Dentsu in the country in 2024, while Harsha Razdan spoke about how they are winning back client confidence.

With a rather unconventional choice of a leader, a former Consultant, to lead them in the country, Dentsu has definitely set a precedent in the perception game, already differentiating themselves from the other agency networks in the country.

Also, by banking on their capabilities which is a good mix of marketing, technology, and consultancy services via a joint problem-solving approach has given them a head start in the simplification of services game. The other half of the battle is being fought by Razdan by listening actively and putting together solutions and teams that can help in the transformation of clients, each one of whom he has made a point to meet personally, ever since he took over the top job 12 months ago.

Edited excerpts:

With the simplification of structures, which of your clients are working across multiple disciplines and practices at Dentsu?

Jean: Majority of our Japanese clients embrace all our capabilities. We want to bring the eastern thinking to the west as well as the best of capability innovation from the other side. We have had quite a good track record in the past few years. Apart from the Japanese clients, for those like General Motors, American Express, as well as for some of our recently won clients - Royal Canin, T-Mobile, Lowe’s, Ferrero we have put together many different capabilities. But our model is not to say we integrate agencies for you, Mr. Client. Our model is to say, we solve your problem, you don’t need to care from where within the Dentsu Network it is getting done.

William: The big shift is that we were structured on the service lines, and the CEO/Head of each service line was focused on the P&L. Now we have taken down those P&Ls, to be able to get in place leaders who are focused on the practice, namely - Media, CXM, Creative and Business transformation. And all of them are really focused on driving the craft of each of their areas and bringing them all together to solve the client’s problems. We also have integrated solutions as a fifth pillar, which essentially are pre-packaged capabilities that we know are integrated by design like Gaming, Dentsu Good, etc.

Harsha: My belief is that there’s only one person who owns P&L in Dentsu and that is our big boss, Hiroshi Igarashi. Rest of us, including me are just carrying the legacy on his behalf. In fact, in India no Dentsu agency or person gets rewarded unless the overall India numbers are looking good. Basically, if only Carat does well and India doesn’t, they can be prepared to say goodbye to their bonuses.

The APAC region (excluding Japan) contributes to only 10% of Dentsu’s total revenue, where does India stand in the pecking order there? How important is the country for Dentsu and how did it fare last year?

Jean: When we look at India as a market, it goes beyond the financial figures. India will be the future, and we are committed to investing and setting up our global delivery centre here which will enable Dentsu the world over. India is not a geography; it is a centre of excellence and a key foundation for us to drive our network talent strategy.

Harsha: When I joined Dentsu, the first thing we needed was stability within our own company because we didn't have a leader or a head for some time. Clients oft asked me questions like ‘Are you back?’ But fact is, we were never gone. It was just one blip in the 123-year-old history of Dentsu. So, 2023 was all about getting client confidence back. We have repositioned ourselves, and are not just creative, media or CXM specialists today. If a client has a marketing problem, we will solve it no matter what practice it takes. So, last year, having stabilized, we are looking strongly upwards, and it’s not about media or creative anymore; it is 20 times bigger. What matters to me, is not ranking but profitable and sustainable growth. In fact, competition for me is not about comparing Dentsu with some other traditional companies. Anyone who tries to snatch away anything in the broader framework of marketing from Dentsu is my competition, be it Accenture or IBM. I will use all the armoury we have to cover that space.

Dentsu won the ‘Network of the Year’ Award at two Asia Pacific Advertising festivals this year – Adfest and Spikes. You also won the Regional Network of the Year for Asia second year in a row at Cannes Lions in 2023, ditto at the LIA awards. But how soon will you transcend the Asian boundary in the awards recognition at an ‘overall network’ level. Is this going to be Dentsu's year at Cannes on a global level?

Jean: Well, India did break that boundary on the global stage by becoming the ‘Agency of the Year’ at Cannes in 2022. While we appreciate awards, we don't work for them. Nothing inspires us more than delivering the right results for clients and in the process, of course, getting recognized by competitive awards because it helps us to also attract talent and clients. Therefore, we also have intra-Dentsu awards. Watch this space because we hope to do well in all awards, even if it is not our focus. Our focus is on client centricity, solutioning, and business.

As per the Comvergence Barometer none of the media agencies from Dentsu have made it to the top 3 in India for 2023 in new business wins or in size of business. Does that trouble you? What is the goal you have set for Anita Kotwani in India?

William: While that was indeed the result for 2023, we have had a long history of being on top of the league. The nature of the agency business is quite cyclical and you sometimes end up having a year like that. I spent the past couple of days with Anita and her leadership team and I'm really pleased with the momentum that they've built. We have had some great local wins like Berger Paints and some great international wins like Ferrero, Carlsberg, etc. And what's really important about those wins is that while we win globally, we have to win in every market too. And so, the real strength is in how the network is teaming up across markets and securing those wins. So, Anita and the team have been a big part of those network level wins as well as wins locally. I am happy with the way they are progressing and the leadership team that she has built.

While most of the star leaders from your most successful ‘Unfiltered History Tour’ team have quit the agency, we saw a top former leader Narayan Devanathan making a return. Would you say Dentsu is as much of an aspirational network to be working at, in India as it was before?

Jean: After I took on this role last October, many people called me to say that they now see the point in the simplification of structures at Dentsu. Some of them even wanted to discuss their return to the company that they love so much. When Harsha told us that he managed to bring Narayan Devanathan back to Dentsu, we couldn’t be happier. At the same time, we will be joined by a lot of new talent, we're also very focused on Gen Z right now.

Amit Wadhwa is missing a creative partner as the group CCO position has been vacant since the departure of Ajay Gahlaut in Feb, 2023. Do you plan to fill that soon?

Jean: We definitely want to invite great creative talent to join us, Harsha has some big plans there. But at the same time are conflicted about whether the traditional Group CCO role will lead to the right model for Gen Z talent and move the business forward. In parallel, we’re thinking of how we can create parts of the capability that will connect with each other, while also enabling younger talent to have a bigger stage. We are evaluating both sides.