The Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) is plotting a major marketing push to build up its brand reputation and better communicate its market positioning as part of a broader effort to win more global work.
Rebecca Tos, who took on a newly created group CMO role last week as well as being promoted to CEO of Columbus, says the DAN brand will be pushed out into the market more aggressively to present a 'borderless model of business integration' across the network's agencies.
The strategy is aligned to Dentsu's global plans and will come to the fore when providing clients with an “end-to-end solution” as well pitching for international work.
Dentsu Aegis Network is a relatively new brand in Australia and part of Tos' remit will be to ensure it gains traction in the market.
Tos says it is important for Dentsu Aegis Network to start promoting its "borderless, seamless" business model in which major media agencies are supported by specialists in digital, social and other niche areas. An example of how well integrated the agencies are, she adds, is that Dentsu Aegis Network operates under a single P&L across Australia and New Zealand.
Individual brands, such as Carat, Isobar, Vizeum and Dentsu Mitchell, will still have their own separate marketing push, and Tos will collaborate with marketing heads on a monthly basis.
“A lot of the work I'll be doing will be to amplify what the Dentsu Aegis Network brand stands for to the market,” she says.
“The individual brands are definitely the hero for our overall operating model and how those relationships are with our clients, but it's very much about building capabilities across a broad range. I'm not here to market those brands, but to celebrate the success of those brands and how we all work together under one network."
Part of the benefit will be to win more global accounts. During last year's 'mediapalooaza', Dentsu Aegis Network picked up Honda (Dentsu Aegis) and Mondelez (Carat), but lost DHL to MEC. However many other multinationals went to other networks including GroupM, Omnicom and Publicis.
This year, there are still plenty of global pitches in play, including Ikea, Diageo and VW, with heavy rumours AB InBev could also go to market once the ink has dried on its merger with SABMiller.
“We have in-market local brands that help provide that competitive advantage but having that one consistent story will not only help in the acquisition space, but also getting on the roster for global pitches – it makes a huge difference," Tos adds.
“No matter what a client challenge is it's walking them through the whole journey within the digital economy and we've go big ambitions to be 100% by 2020.”
Tos became the first CMO across the Dentsu Aegis Network in Australia this month - another vital cog in chief executive Simon Ryan's new leadership machine.
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