Marketing chiefs need to evolve their roles to ensure their brands stay relevant to consumers and that they are not left behind in their own organisations.
That’s the view of Andrew Dimitriou, DEPT’s still relatively newly appointed global chief client and growth officer.
The former VML CEO and global chief business officer was visiting his native Australia to catch up with clients and work on building the “50 per cent tech, 50 per cent marketing” agency’s reputation in the region – and B&T managed to grab some of his time exclusively.
Moving Fast, Going Deep
“We love to partner with ambitious companies,” he said.
“We operate at pace and we like clients that operate at pace, as well, because we want to break the status quo. We might not be for everybody. We want clients that move fast – ambitious companies with ambitious briefs have been our sweet spot because we know that they want to do some things differently. That’s how we go to market, we say tomorrow’s possibilities for today’s ambitious companies. For us, you can see it in a brief, a CIO or a CFO,” he explained.
It’s telling, perhaps, that Dimitriou does not say ‘CMO’. In his mind, having spent decades working in the US and Europe, he feels the game has moved on from traditional CMO remits. He isn’t alone in that sense, but it’s rare to see agency bosses publicly telling potential clients that they need to keep up – rather than the other way around.
“Increasingly, there’s a shift from CMO-only to either a chief customer officer, chief growth officer or a chief experience officer. That shift is around including more of the marketing tech stack under a CMO’s responsibilities. [Brands] need someone who can have vertical integration and ownership of the entire marketing ecosystem, including technology that impacts those decisions. How are you going to market? What’s your first-party data look like? What’s your e-commerce infrastructure? How is it all connected?” said Dimitriou.
He noted that the shift was underway with large clients, in particular, as they need to catch up thanks to their large, often disparate tech stacks. That change at the client end means that DEPT pitches against some unusual competitors, rather than traditional agencies.
“Anyone and everyone is not the right answer but it is an answer,” Dimitriou said, laughing.
“There are certain briefs where we come up against the systems integrators and the consultants. There are certain briefs where we’ll come up against media agencies. There are certain briefs where we’ll come up against holdcos and others against independents.”
Sometimes, however, there’s a combination of all of the above – as was the case with its Lufthansa group win last year.
In December, DEPT was announced as Lufthansa’s digital agency of record across EMEA. At the time, the business said it wanted a partner to integrate seamlessly with its digital unit, the Digital Hangar, to strengthen an end-to-end digital travel experience, and DEPT’s ability to operate across the spectrum appealed. The agency would even install “a team of AI-native specialists” within Lufthansa to “focus on streamlining and automating internal processes to deliver more efficient and personalised solutions for customers”.
A Change Of Mindset
Dimitriou said that due to DEPT’s size, growth trajectory and range of digital skills, it was increasingly being seen as a competitor in the market to entire holdcos. Locally, the business has around 150 staff with more than 4,000 around the world. Mixing scale and speed, however, is not straightforward.
“It’s where we have a competitive advantage because we’re able to move fast. We’re able to spin up teams around the client on a global basis. Whether it’s Google, Meta [some of DEPT’s largest clients] we can spin up a team around a client problem that’s located anywhere in the world,” he said.
The agency’s work for eBay, said Dimitriou, would be particularly instructive.
“We send out 170 million data points to customers. It touches Sydney, London, Toronto, the West Coast. It’s 24/7, follow the sun. I see more innovation in that space, where you need to be fast and quick in the scale game,” he added.
In fact, it’s one of the reasons Dimitriou says he swapped WPP’s Y&R and later VML for DEPT.
“It was important for me to understand where the industry is going and bet on a horse that has a vision for the future. DEPT is a company that has a vision for the future, and it’s clear. Number two is that Dimi [Albers, DEPT’s CEO] and the management team are like-minded professionals on a mission. So when you go to work, it doesn’t feel like work, it feels like we’re on a mission,” he said.
The third part of the equation for Dimitriou is that DEPT is partner-lef. “We make a decision on Monday, it’s executed on Tuesday,” he said.
“For a client, that’s really important because you’re dealing with a part-owner of the business.”
DEPT also thinks differently on matters of the planet. It became a B Corp in 2021 and, just today received its recertification again. In fact, it is the first global agency to recertify as a B Corp. Some 10 per cent of its projects came from impact projects such as Undo the Firewall, and Easy Genomics, and worked for clients such as Daniel’s Music Foundation, ReflexAI, Ocean Spray, United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee and eBay.
“At a time when companies and governments are backing away from ESG commitments, staying B Corp certified helps us remain accountable and transparent in our operations and stay true to our values. It proves that we’re not just talking about sustainability and impact,” said Albers.
“There is a changing narrative on the global landscape, particularly out of the US administration and some large corporations,” said Dimitriou.
“We believe [B Corp certification] matters. We believe it’s the right thing to do. We believe you can not only make money but you can make money by doing good. More importantly, we believe that having happy employees that work for happy clients pays back in a virtuous circle.”
Local Predictions, Global Understanding
It’s a vision that Dimitriou hopes will curry favour with local marketing bosses. He describes Australia as being one “strategic lever” for DEPT and that its Melbourne office has an “anchor” in the digital health sections of the market. Currently, however, Asia-Pacific, including Australia, accounts for only a fifth of DEPT’s revenue, with North America and EMEA accounting for 40 per cent, each.
But while he said that Australia “punches above its weight” creatively thanks to “hyper-competition” from small startups and agencies, he thinks that the market locally is ripe for disruption when it comes to the techier side of things.
“The battleground and where we’re seeing a lot of traction is in digital experience and AI. How we’re using AI to help clients get faster to market. We had conversations with a client last week about generative engine optimisation – how we’re using Gemini or ChatGPT to help brands get a first-mover advantage,” he said.
“That’s positive for Australia overall because if we can accelerate, then rather than being a laggard in digital, you might jump ahead and be a fast-mover.
Of course, the outcome of the Omnicom-IPG merger will likely have significant ramifications for local operations. But as Dimitriou said, it’s not just scale; it’s speed.
“It’s going to be a year before it finishes and then another year before it settles. What we’re doing now in AI will not look anything like what’s happening in two years,” he said.
It’s an ambitious vision. Is Australia ready? Time will tell.
