Ashish Bhasin promoted to new role of CEO DAN APAC – Singapore absorbed into Greater South cluster
Ashish Bhasin has been appointed to the new role of CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Asia-Pacific. Bhasin will be based in Singapore and will join the global executive team, reporting to DAN Asia Pacific executive chairman Takaki Hibino.
Bhasin was recently given the mandate of CEO Dentsu Aegis Network Greater South in a reorganisation that was announced earlier this year which brought the number of regional clusters down from five to three. He will continue to maintain his role as chairman of DAN India, and oversee the Greater South cluster until a successor is appointed.
Under the current structure, Singapore too will be absorbed into the Greater South cluster at DAN. It had previously been a distinct entity given its role as a regional hub, headed by DAN’s deputy chairman and chief growth officer for Asia-Pacific Masaya Nakamura.
Prakash Kamdar
Isobar Singapore CEO Prakash Kamdar has now been promoted to CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Singapore. Nakamura will return to Tokyo in a new role as CEO global solutions. He will remain on the global executive board.
Bhasin was hired as the head of Aegis in India in 2008, after a two decade long stint at Lowe Lintas. He quickly scaled the operation which at the time had 50 people and was reportedly making losses, and negotiated the merger with Dentsu.
In 2015, Bhasin claimed DAN would be the No 2 network in India, second only to WPP, and in early 2017, he said this goal had been reached ahead of schedule, much to the consternation of his peers in the business.
The growth of the network has been on the back of several significant mergers and acquisitions. On Bhasin’s watch, it has also made an impact at local and international award shows. The network recently appointed one of India’s most celebrated creatives Agnello Dias of Taproot Dentsu as its creative chairman.
Speaking to Mumbrella, Bhasin said: “There are certain inherent strengths we have as network that none of the competition has – the biggest one being our one P&L approach. We have deep specialisms available in almost every part of the marketing communication services setup and we have them all under one P&L able to deploy best talent resources and solutions as needed by the brand.
“We had a head-start here compared to the competition, who are struggling with legacy structures and silos. As a group, we are also digitally ahead. In these times of need for digital transformation, we have a distinct advantage. Our approach is going to be to ensure that every market in Asia-Pacific utilises these strengths to its benefit.”
Commenting on Bhasin’s elevation, Takaki Hibino, Executive Chairman, Dentsu Aegis Network APAC said: “Ashish’s appointment is critical for the region; enabling the markets to focus on client needs and growth opportunities while delivering operational rigour for the business.
“He was a clear candidate from the start with a proven track record of delivering long-term and consistent growth. 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 Asia-Pacific.”
Bhasin added: “I am thrilled to be taking on this new role within the 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.”
A note from DAN said: “This move further cements the recently announced cluster structure: Greater North, Greater South and ANZ in APAC, giving the markets and their leadership teams greater focus on identifying and moving into key growth opportunities.”
Bhasin’s promotion has also resulted in changes to the management structure in India. Anand Bhadkamkar, erstwhile COO and chief finance officer for South Asia, has now been promoted to CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network India. He will continue to report to Bhasin.
Anand Bhadkamkar
Bhadkamkar said: “I am extremely excited and honoured to take on this new responsibility. I look forward to embarking upon a new chapter in my career and work with Ashish as the chairman of India to continue building DAN into the country’s most innovative, future-proofed market-leading network.
“Our One P&L philosophy and our leadership status in Digital sets us up in the best position versus our competitors.”
DAN is now officially the network with record amount of changes. Don’t envy anyone part of this behemoth where –
Replypeople are appointed
people are removed and
those whose staple is [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines], packed off to Minato. What’s next?
The [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] rely on sharing self-promotional content. In heavy doses.
ReplyAppears he even has his personal [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]. Ever seen someone like Sorrell self-promote himself?
Replyhttps://www.campaignasia.com/article/for-dans-new-apac-ceo-ashish-bhasin-the-sequel-is-where-the-plot-thickens/454250?eid=21&edate=20190916&utm_source=20190916&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter
Sorry to paste competition s article link here. But this is exactly what we predicted. There will be a lot of [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] from the new DAN APAC CEO. 2ait and watch!
Someone needs to stop this please! Sickening!
ReplyI give it 2 months before fire every one here, especially when the [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyReally? The main talking point of differentiation is 1 P&L? Clients read through this bull shit and it’s not real. There is no single P&L. Every agency brand name and individual teams have P&Ls.
ReplyFake news bro.
True. There are factions in here and very conflicting and competing agendas within different agency brands. All that talk of one P&l, one Dentsu is untrue. I know it, I have seen it.
ReplySeems they have outsourced the running of the SEA network to India.
ReplyI think I know who you are that wrote that. Let me assure you that DAN has a hiring freeze and a firing freeze. Budgets are all fixed up now and with Ros and Andy gone from Dentsu Advertising we will all get a bonus. So just sit back and smell the musky smell of money. Jealousy will get you nowhere.
Reply“….Ros and Andy gone from Dentsu…”
looks like there will be more squash happening then.
I will never forget that this is the agency that gave us those ridiculous
MRT courtesy ads with the ahbeng rhymes.
Let’s evaluate [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] next please, Mr Bhasin.
ReplyAll round [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] old school leadership at Dentsu brand across apac. Clients are [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]. Hope AB is the man to fix it.
ReplyThe good ones will not stick around in this [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] ship
ReplyHave your say