Dentsu consolidates CXM with Merkle Australia, folds Accordant into Isobar
Dentsu Group continues to consolidate its operations, in a move that will see Amicus Digital, Davanti Australia, DWA and Gyro brought together as part of Merkle Australia.
The operational changes will also see data-driven customer experience consultancy and Adobe Global Alliance Solution Partner, Accordant, integrated into digital experience agency Isobar.
In an announcement, Dentus said the changes will allow the company to simplify its business and strengthen its customer experience management (CXM) offering.
The new-look Merkle Australia will become Dentu’s go-to-market brand for Salesforce CSM solutions and B2B marketing, bringing Amicus Digital recognition as the Salesforce APAC Implementation Partner of the year for 2020.
Merkle Australia will continue to be led by managing director Blair Cooke, and commercial director Jessie Mitchell while its B2B media capability is led by managing director Samantha Cunliffe and its B2B creative capability by business director Christine Mills.
Dentsu announced that the Merkle team is being strengthened with hires including former Wunderman COO Richard Phillips, who has recently been appointed General Manager in Melbourne.
Meanwhile, Accordant’s capabilities and talent will be folded into Isobar to form end-to-end specialist Adobe practice that will be underpinned by creative, marketing and technology solutions.
Accordant’s co-founders Steve Knowles and Scott King are moving into newly created roles within Dentsu, with Knowles taking on the job of chief growth officer, while King becoming vice president, enterprise solutions for Isobar in Australia and New Zealand.
Dentsu ANZ chief executive officer, Angela Tangas said the transformation was driven by a view to maximising competitive advantage and a desire to shift to focus more closely on intuitive customer experiences.
“Customer behaviours and expectations changed in 2020, and we can only expect to see more brands shifting their focus on creating and realising intuitive customer experiences.
“Merkle and Isobar’s growth is being driven by organisations needing help to transform their end-to-end customer experience. This is where competitive advantage can be maximised and we’re already seeing increasing demand for our expertise in strategy, digital and data transformation, and CX technology.”
Each agency will provide solutions from a dedicated technology partner, and together the “simplified model” of Merkle and Isobar will help clients transform their end-to-end customer experience.
Tangas added: “Our partnerships play an important role in driving meaningful progress for our clients. We look forward to building on the momentum made in 2020 and working closely with Salesforce and Adobe to help clients be more adaptive and thrive in 2021.”
Dentsu clarified to Mumbrella that the moves will bring together the talent and capabilities from each of the agencies under two, stronger agency propositions.
The changes follow Dentsu’s recent announcement that its sports-related subsidiaries and businesses will now come under the new holding company Dentsu Sports International (DSI).
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Zanda Wilson was a reporter and podcast producer at Mumbrella, specialising in radio reporting. He left Mumbrella in September 2021.
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topics
Accordant
Amicus Digital
Angela Tangas
Blair Cooke
Davanti Australia
Dentsu
Dentsu Australia
Dentsu Group
DWA
Gyro
Isobar
Merkle Australia
