Dentsu to represent Facebook in Japan

According to a statement from Dentsu, the advertising giant will provide advertisers with consultation on effective Facebook page development and offer new Facebook-based marketing strategies tied to ad placements in other mainstream media.

Blake Chandlee, Facebook’s VP and commercial director for Asia-Pacific, Latin America and emerging markets, said that Dentsu would be a “valuable partner” in helping marketers in Japan connect with their audiences.

Akira Sugimoto, executive officer at Dentsu, noted that social networking had become “a vital communications medium” and said the collaboration would “play a key role in our initiatives to further strengthen links between consumers and corporations.

Under the agreement, Dentsu will have exclusive sales rights to premium advertising space on Facebook until mid-February next year. Sales of advertising space on the Facebook platform will be handled by cyber communications, a subsidiary of Dentsu, as media representative.

Facebook currently has more than 500 million users worldwide and around 2.6 million in Japan, the majority of whom are aged between 25 and 34.