dentsu International has appointed Patricio De Matteis, currently chief digital officer of Cognizant, as CEO of ANZ, based in Sydney and starting in January.
De Matteis replaces CEO Angela Tangas, who was appointed CEO of dentsu UK and Ireland in May, joining the business in London in September.
In the ANZ market, Kirsty Muddle leads Dentsu Creative; Danny Bass dentsu’s Media business including Carat, iProspect and dentsuX; John Riccio is responsible for Merkle across both ANZ and APAC, and Chris Bower heading up Solutions, dentsu’s business consulting arm.
De Matteis will report into Rob Gilby, APAC CEO, dentsu international, and will be a member of the APAC executive team.
Gilby: “Patricio’s deep knowledge coupled with his expertise from client and consulting sides is unique and will complement the strengths of our existing leadership team in the Australian and New Zealand markets.
“Patricio has a genuine understanding and appreciation of the importance of history, heritage and creativity having worked across both the ANZ and APAC markets, including some time living in dentsu’s birthplace, Japan.
"His attitude to sustainable growth was immediately clear and his commitment to people and doing what is right cemented in our minds that we had found the right person to lead the business.
"His experience speaks to the vision for our business and its wider role in the APAC market as we progress our one dentsu strategy. With Patricio on board, dentsu now has one of the strongest leadership teams in Australia and New Zealand with deep craft specialism across creative, media and customer experience."
Under Tangas’ leadership, the ANZ business has seen three years of continued revenue and margin growth, most recently Q1 2022 organic growth of 13.6%, overseen multiple strategic clients wins and retentions, and improved year-on-year employee engagement despite the challenged business and market conditions.
Tangas: “I am incredibly proud of what myself and our dentsu ANZ team have collectively achieved over the last three years.
"We are a casing example of how transformation ahead of the curve can ensure sustained growth and, most importantly, result in a company that is agile, adaptable, and responsive to the changing needs of our clients and our employees.
“Patricio is exceptional talent and by working in partnership with the industry’s best and most diverse leadership team, our ANZ business, our team, clients, and partners are ready for what’s next.
I look forward to seeing the ANZ business continue to go from strength-to-strength whilst doubling down on the growth and innovation of the UK&I, our third largest market and with it, cross market collaboration every-day."
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