DAN promotes Ashish Bhasin to APAC CEO role
The Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has promoted Ashish Bhasin from CEO of DAN Greater South to APAC CEO, effective immediately.
Bhasin will be based in Singapore and report to DAN’S APAC executive chairperson, Takaki Hibino, while local ANZ CEO Henry Tajer will report to him.
Bhasin’s promotion is effective immediately
Hibino said Bhasin was a “clear candidate” from the beginning.
“Ashish’s appointment is critical for the region; enabling the markets to focus on client needs and growth opportunities while delivering operational rigor for the business. He was a clear candidate from the start with a proven track record of delivering long-term and consistent growth,” Hibino said.
“Under his leadership, the business in India is now the second largest advertising and media organisation by revenue in the market. His long-term vision coupled with his acumen for identifying an opportunity is one of the best in the business, and I am delighted he will join me in leading the business in APAC.”
Bhasin will maintain his role as chairperson of DAN India, and be tasked with “delivering greater operational rigor and leadership excellence across the region”.
“I am thrilled to be taking on this new role within the APAC region. There is never a more exciting time to be in this business; our competitive landscape is becoming more complex and fragmented while our clients are crying out for long-term vision and simplicity,” Bhasin said of his new role.
“We have to keep their needs as our North Star whilst delivering long-term, sustainable growth for our business. We are in a unique position to build propositions around our client needs, and I look forward to this next chapter in the transformation journey of this region.”
That transformation journey has been supercharged by the appointment of Tajer as ANZ CEO in January.
In late May, a few months into Tajer’s tenure, DAN made a number of executives redundant, including Adrian Roeling, president of Amplifi, Nick Seckold, managing director of marketing agency iProspect, and Andrew Hewett, head of public affairs and communications for DAN.
Tajer has been DAN’s local CEO since the start of the year
Amplifi’s head of programmatic Luke Manley was made redundant in July, following Michael Bass’ appointment as Amplifi’s chief investment officer two weeks earlier, who stepped into the role following Ashley Earnshaw becoming CEO of DAN media agency Vizeum.
Carat managing director Simon Williams also departed in July after Sue Squillace was named CEO.
Last month, Angela Tangas became Dentsu X’s chief commercial officer, while Daniel Isaac was appointed as the agency’s CEO. Two weeks ago, Erik Hallander was promoted to Isobar ANZ CEO, ahead of the departure of DAN veterans Nick Swifte and Indy Khabra last week. Earlier this week, Mitchell McBeath resigned from the role of Columbus national MD.
The extreme shake-up follows the loss of significant accounts across the holding group, including Super Retail Group, Virgin Australia, Asahi, Mondelēz International, Amart, and Bega. Just over a week ago, Carat retained the $50m Medibank and AHM account.
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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