dentsu hands APAC creative direction to Phil Adrien

Dentsu International has promoted Phil Adrien (pictured) to CEO, creative, Asia Pacific, effective immediately, to deliver creative transformation and growth for clients. Adrien will be responsible for driving the regional growth strategy for dentsu’s creative business, reporting to Ashish Bhasin, CEO, dentsu Asia Pacific and Jean Lin, global CEO, creative, dentsu international. He will retain his role as MD of creative group in dentsu Singapore, reporting into Prakash Kamdar, CEO dentsu Singapore.

Dentsu's creative business in this region includes global agencies dentsuMB and Isobar, and regional and local agencies such as dentsu one, dentsu webchutney and Taproot dentsu. In his role, Adrien will also partner closely with Merlee Jayme, newly appointed chief creative officer in Asia Pacific. Adrien took on the role of MD, creative group in Singapore last year as part of the One Dentsu strategy. He told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE in a previous interview that he was approached by Kamdar some time in October 2019 to pilot a new business model and lead the creative unit. "The end goal and the journey that we are on, is to be the integrated experience agency of the future," he explained.

According to Adrien, clients in Asia Pacific want breakthrough creative ideas and access to dentsu's best talent, as well as flexibility and speed to help them go to market with relevant content.

"With our talented teams across the region and solutions such as Content Symphony, we are well-positioned to deliver on this ask of our clients in APAC. I’m energised by the richness and diversity of our region, and the opportunity to dream loud with our clients, teams and partners to be a force for good and growth in Asia," he added.

Meanwhile, Lin said Adrien is a dynamic business leader with experience innovating at the intersection of creative, media and digital to bring together brand and experience around the organising power of an idea.

"Dentsu wants to be the most integrated agency network in the world, and Adrien’s expertise will play a key role in achieving this vision in the region. I am pleased to see entrepreneurial leaders such as Adrien rise to pivotal positions to drive transformation with our clients and for our businesses," she explained.

Bhasin added that this promotion is "a natural step" for Adrien who has vast experience building strong relationships with clients in different verticals and markets across creative, media and digital. "He has continued to impress his stakeholders, delivering excellence and innovation for the clients we work with while having a deep understanding of how to nurture and get the best out of his teams," Bhasin said.

In addition to the recent promotions for Lin and Jayme, dentsu also appointed Fred Levron as global chief creative officer, effective 1 November, joining from FCB where he was previously worldwide creative partner. Last month, dentsu Malaysia also named Kunal Roy as CEO of its creative service line, bringing with him 20 years of experience. 

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