After a stint as Carsales commercial MD, former Dentsu Aegis CEO, Simon Ryan, is heading back to the advertising industry.
Ryan abruptly quit his Dentsu post in late 2018, telling B&T at the time he wanted “to embrace the next challenge in my life and focus on a different business”. He then moved to Carsales for 12 months.
But it appears you can’t get advertising out of Ryan’s veins with confirmation this morning he’s establishing his own marketing communications agency called RyanCap.
The Australian is reporting RyanCap will take its inspiration from Sir Martin Sorrell’s fledgling digitally-led venture S4.
Ryan has reportedly been working on the launch of RyanCap since the start of the year when he quit his Carsales post and is being funded by an unnamed private investor. Ryan has reportedly partnered with former DAN executive and Isobar CEO Konrad Spilva for the venture.
Ryan also appears to be taking a leaf out of Sorrell’s taunts of the traditional holding companies, telling The Oz they were ripe for disruption because they were “under siege” due to them being “legacy-driven and inwardly focused”.
“Clients want agile, seamless and efficient partners, and the holding companies that have dominated the industry to date are challenged to deliver this level of service,” he declared of of RyanCap’s offerings.
Ryan didn’t say he had any clients onboard as yet and acknowledged the current difficulties of the advertising marketing due to COVID-19, however, expected an upswing later in the year as FMCG, automotive and finance spending returned to normal levels.
