DAN announces raft of global promotions

Dentsu Aegis Network today announced several new top-level promotions as part of an annual reshuffle of its leadership positions.

Takaki Hibino returns to Tokyo as executive officer of Dentsu Inc, responsible for global business development. He was previously based in Singapore as global president of Dentsu X and Asia-Pacific CEO of Dentsu creative agencies.

Hibino said his moving into a new role will "pave the way for fresh new talent to step into the agency brand leadership roles, to drive growth and continue to disrupt our clients’ businesses in a positive way."

Replacing him at Dentsu creative agencies is Dick van Motman, who will also take over as global president, succeeding Masahiko Hibi, who retires at the end of the year. Van Motman was previously CEO of DAN Southeast Asia, and the agency said his replacement will be announced “in due course”.

Van Motman told Campaign he was "extremely honoured" to be the first non-Japanese elevated to such a position at Dentsu, and that the new challenge "comes at the right time".

"I joined DAN in 2012, and since then we have more than doubled our size in APAC," he said. "Everything I had planned and hoped for has materialised, even more than I could have thought."

Van Motman said leading Dentsu's creative agencies aligns with his goals of putting creativity at the heart of what the network does. "Normally creative agencies switch on when the client knocks on the door," he said. "It's an outside-in relationship. With Dentsu, it's inside-out. We’ve always evolved and never thought about advertising, but instead having creative solutions for our clients."   

Mitsuyuki Nakamura takes on the role of global and APAC president of Dentsu X, having previously been Dentsu X APAC managing director and CEO of Dentsu X Thailand. He told Campaign his key priorities in the new role were to grow Dentsu X's global footprint, with a focus on Europe and the US, and to work more closely with the network's creative agencies.

"I want to extend our client portfolio, and by working closely with Dick and the creative agencies, Dentsu X can be a hub to unlock Dentsu's uniqueness outside Japan," he said. 

"When we rebrand to Dentsu X from Dentsu media, our goals was to provide experience beyond exposure. not just media plans. Creativity is the key to media agencies too, and Dentsu's unique offering will make us grow into a capable, trustworthy global agency network."

In addition, Motohiro Yamagishi, former CEO of DAN China, moves back to Tokyo as Dentsu Inc executive officer in charge of domestic client relations. Phil Teeman, managing director of DAN China under Yamagishi’s leadership, steps into the CEO role.

Finally Masaya Nakamura has been promoted to executive officer of Dentsu Inc, and will join the team in Singapore as global and APAC executive client president for DAN. Nakamura’s focus will be expanding relationships with homegrown Japanese and key global clients, bringing with him more than 27 years’ industry experience.

Nick Waters, CEO of DAN Asia-Pacific, said: “Hibino-san has been, and will continue to be, a great contributor to the Dentsu Aegis Network business and the appointments of Phil, Masaya, Mitsuyuki and Dick to their respective roles enables us to build on the momentum within the Dentsu agencies. I thank Yamagishi-san for his contribution to the business in China.”