Nick Swifte and Indy Khabra the latest DAN exits
Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) veterans, Nick Swifte and Indy Khabra, have exited as CEO Henry Tajer continues to restructure the holding group. Mumbrella understands the roles were made redundant.
Swifte had served in various roles within DAN for almost 22 years, while Khabra has been with the group for five years. Swifte’s most recent role was as head of government solutions, and Khabra was the ANZ managing director at Amnet.
DAN confirmed the departures but did not have a further comment.
Before holding his current role, Khabra held a number of positions at Amnet, a programmatic company under the DAN umbrella.
In May, a few months into Tajer’s tenure as CEO, 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.
Amplifi’s head of programmatic Luke Manley was made redundant last month, 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 last month. Williams’ role was called into question when Sue Squillace was named CEO, but his departure was in contradiction to DAN’s assertion that Williams would stay in his role following Squillace’s appointment.
Earlier this month, Angela Tangas became Dentsu X’s chief commercial officer, while Daniel Isaac was appointed as the agency’s CEO. And last week, Erik Hallander was promoted to Isobar ANZ CEO.
The extreme shake-up follows the loss of significant accounts across the group, including Super Retail Group, Virgin Australia, Asahi, Mondelēz International, Amart, and Bega.
when will it end?
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Simon Ryan, the former CEO, is [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
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I hope Swifte stays in the industry – his Media Hall Of Fame commentary is outstanding!
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You’re unlikely to cut your way to success. And the ‘deadwood’ rationale is already ‘lost limbs’.
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[Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
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SiRy left one hell of a mess. Henry is doing what has to be done, it’s not pleasant work but will hopefully set DAN up for success down the track.
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Great talent and a big loss to DAN
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There aren’t going to be any staff or clients left at DAN soon, will they be the first large group to exit oz?
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Swiftey is one of the greats in this business – I sincerely hope he stays on with another agency.
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Don’t forget the MD of Columbus – they’ve been able to sweep that one under the rug.
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Hey Henry, would you mind updating your media partners with who to talk to and how to navigate the restructure in the immediate term?
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Indy is a quality leader and an intelligent operator, he’ll be an asset to wherever ho goes…
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