As part of dentsu’s move to simplify its business and strengthen its customer experience management (CXM) offering, the network has today announced a number of key changes to its Australian business.
With deep expertise and strategic partnerships across Salesforce, Adobe, Sitecore and Google, dentsu is bringing together its specialist data-driven customer experience and B2B agencies to form two stronger, holistic digital agencies in market.
Amicus Digital, Davanti Australia, DWA and gyro will form Merkle Australia, which will become the network’s go-to-market brand for Salesforce CXM solutions and B2B marketing capabilities. Through Amicus Digital’s legacy, Merkle Australia is a leading Salesforce partner and recently recognised as Salesforce APAC Implementation Partner of the year for 2020.
Accordant, dentsu’s data-driven customer experience consultancy and Adobe Global Alliance Solution Partner, will integrate its capabilities and talent into Isobar to form an end-to-end specialist Adobe practice, underpinned by creative, marketing and technology solutions.
While each agency will provide solutions from a dedicated technology partner, together Merkle and Isobar are able to solve complex programs of work that help clients transform their end-to-end customer experience.
Under the simplified model, clients can gain easy access to solutions spanning enterprise technology, CRM, digital platforms, loyalty and commerce solutions, data and analytics, business transformation strategy, and B2B marketing.
Angela Tangas (main photoO, dentsu ANZ Chief Executive Officer, commented: “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.
“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,” said Tangas.
Merkle Australia is led by Blair Cooke, Managing Director, and Jessie Mitchell, Commercial Director; and Merkle’s B2B capability is led by Samantha Cunliffe, Managing Director, and Christine Mills, Creative Business Director. The team is being strengthened with key strategic hires to bolster its Australian operations, notably Richard Phillips who has recently been appointed General Manager in Melbourne. Phillips joins Merkle from Wunderman where he has spent the last nine years in various senior roles, including Chief Operating Officer.
Accordant co-founders Steve Knowles and Scott King have each taken on new roles within dentsu. Knowles will move into a newly created role of Chief Growth Officer, focussing on deepening dentsu’s relationship with Adobe in the APAC market and connecting the network’s customer experience capabilities with clients across all dentsu brands. King will move into the newly created role of Vice President, Enterprise Solutions for Isobar in ANZ, leading an all-inclusive practice of end-to-end Adobe capabilities.
