Phil Adrien steps down from APAC creative CEO role at dentsu International

Phil Adrien (pictured) has stepped down from his role as CEO of creative APAC at dentsu International. Adrien said in a LinkedIn post that he will be moving to Dublin to join a company in the tech industry, but has yet to provide more details. Dentsu confirmed his departure, and added that he is leaving dentsu to pursue a new opportunity in a different industry. "We are grateful for his years of dedication and passion and wish him all the very best for the future," the statement added.

According to his LinkedIn, Adrien said he was grateful for the opportunity to work in two markets, across creative and media, to have had "the best mentors who backed and believed in me to grow into new leadership roles", as well as the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues across the globe. "The best part of my experience at dentsu has been getting to know the incredibly talented, wonderful and kind team members who call dentsu home. I feel privileged to have had the chance to team, learn and grow with these brilliant colleagues from east to west, and back again," he said.

Adrien took on the CEO, creative, Asia Pacific role late last year. In the role, he was responsible for driving the regional growth strategy for dentsu’s creative business. 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 a previous interview with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE Adrien shard that clients in Asia Pacific want breakthrough creative ideas, 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 had then said.

Meanwhile, earlier this year dentsu Singapore bolstered its team the appointment of Preeti Mascarenhas as chief strategy officer, dentsu Singapore. Additionally, Florian Lacombe has been promoted to head of operations, while Prema Techinamurthi has been promoted to MD, creative group - both under dentsu Singapore.

Additionally, the agency delivered a strong close to 2021, charting a return to pre-pandemic growth as it commits to more purpose-led growth in 2022. According to dentsu Singapore, its strong performance for 2021 has been fuelled by its focus on strategic sectors, such as health and gaming, and sustainable growth; further integration of its offerings; and a strengthened eco-system of partnerships in the region, including with Google and Salesforce.

Dentsu Singapore CEO, Prakash Kamdar also said that while 2021 has continued to show the agency that being nimble to change is more important than ever, several trends will fuel the winds of change in 2022; which dentsu Singapore sees as opportunities to raise the bar in its solutions to meet the demand for more data-driven experiences, support the growth of pandemic-related lifestyles. 

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