Dentsu has appointed Chris Ernst as chief practice officer of Media, essentially filling a void left by Fiona Johnston.
Ernst will be charged with leading the national media business, “driving greater integration across dentsu’s media brands and strengthening client impact through the group’s connected capabilities”.
This includes oversight over Carat, iProspect and Dentsu Queensland, where he has served as managing director since 2019.
Under Ernst’s leadership, the Queensland business achieved the highest internal agency engagement across Dentsu Australia, record client NPS, and picked up the 2025 B&T Awards State Agency of the Year and People and Culture accolades.
Ernst has more than 20 years’ industry experience across Australia and the UK, with deep expertise across media strategy, client leadership and business transformation.
He has been a key driver of performance and culture in the market, and B&T understands it is highly thought of internally.
“Chris is a people first leader who lifts the energy in every room. He builds teams that care, perform, and grow – and he brings a rare depth of client connection,” said Dentsu ANZ CEO Rob Harvey.
“It’s a testament to our internal talent that we can promote someone of Chris’ calibre. I’m confident he will take the success he’s driven in Queensland and scale it nationally for our clients and our people.”
Ernst is one of the first major appointments since Harvey took the reins of Dentsu last year.
“ We have extraordinary people and capability across the organisation and a unique opportunity to bring that together in powerful ways,” Ernst said.
“I’m excited to work with teams nationally to build on what’s already working, strengthen collaboration and deliver meaningful growth and impact for our clients, our partners and our people.”
Ernst will spend time in Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland, and will transition his base to Sydney in the first half of 2026.
He will report directly to Rob Harvey and join the dentsu ANZ executive leadership team.
