Dentsu Inc, Japan’s biggest advertising agency that recently secured a ₹500-crore advertising contract from the Congress party for the coming general elections, aims to generate at least 55 per cent of its revenue from outside its slowing home market.
AcquisitionLast year, the company had acquired UK-based Aegis for $4.8 billion (₹30,060 crore today) which it expects to help its expansion in overseas markets.
Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), which oversees Dentsu’s operations outside Japan, formally started operations on January 1 this year, and will remain focussed on China and India, officials said.
Last year, Dentsu India had acquired an 80 per cent stake in Webchutney, a leading digital agency, and 51 per cent holding in Taproot India as part of its strategy to strengthen operations in the country.
“Acquisitions are an integral part of our group strategy. We do not acquire for the heck of acquiring, or because some of our rivals are doing so. It has to be strategic in nature, and fill a certain criteria with its capability,” Ashish Bhasin, CEO, DAN South Asia, told Business Line .
Growth in 2013Despite the shaky economy, Dentsu India reported 60 per cent growth in 2013 over the previous year, and continues to scout for talent.
“We are always talking to prospects, talking all the time,” Bhasin added.
The Dentsu India group has appointed Simi Sabhaney as the new CEO of its advertising and communications agency, Dentsu Communications. Sabhaney was earlier with Ogilvy & Mather as President, Bangalore and Chennai.
The acquisition of Aegis has already started reaping benefits, with Dentsu cornering contracts away from rivals such as Publicis Omnicom
Of late, Dentsu has been on a global acquisition spree. On January 17, DAN acquired Polish social media group Socializer for integration into its Isobar brand.
On January 7, Dentsu bought a Sydney creative agency Oddfellows, which is the creative agency for Toyota’s retail advertising.
Trading desk serviceDentsu and Aegis also set up a trading desk service in Japan this month, called Dentsu Audience Network.
The driving force behind the launch is the use of real time bidding, which refers to the buying and selling of ad impressions on websites in real time through automatic bidding.
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