Dentsu establishes Greater North Asia cluster and appoints visionary team to drive new growth
Dentsu announces the establishment of a new “Greater North Asia” cluster bringing together Mainland China and three of the Asian Tiger economies, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan into one management structure appointing industry veteran, Jennifer Tang, CEO Taiwan to spearhead the cluster as CEO, Greater North.
Jennifer is recognised for her transformative management approach with the Taiwan business one of the strongest performing in the APAC region, closely modelled to dentsu in Japan. The transformation of the Taiwan business has been a six-year visionary journey which started when Jennifer joined dentsu as CEO, Taiwan in 2017 evolving it into the high-performance business it is today built on a culture of client centricity, teaming and growth mindset. Her unwavering focus on integration, innovation, data and technology has enabled dentsu Taiwan to capitalise on high growth opportunities by expertly predicting and navigating the changing expectations of consumers and deliver competitive, first-mover advantage for brands in the market.
Rob Gilby, CEO APAC, dentsu said: “Jennifer is a vocal advocate of co-creation and collaboration and together with her leadership team will deliver new untapped growth opportunities for both our clients and our business. Bringing together these markets into one management structure with an integrated cluster strategy will enable each leader to spearhead an agenda that benefits all markets, delivering new innovation and client opportunities, improved speed to market and greater autonomy to deliver solutions and economies of scale aligned to market needs. Jennifer needs no introduction, she has won a number of accolades for her own leadership and the culture she has overseen in the Taiwan business while her teams have been recognised on the global stage from Cannes Lions to Spikes, Clios, Madstars and RECMA. She is a passionate advocate of B2B2S and dentsu’s impact on the communities it’s a part of, living the values that are fundamental to the way we do business.”
Introducing the Greater North Asia Leadership team
Jennifer has an exceptional bench of leaders joining her, who will continue to lead their own markets while contributing to the collective success of the cluster. This team includes:
- Joshua Wong, CFO, Greater North: Joshua is an innovative and strategic leader who brings a critical commercial lens to investments and operations. A long-time partner to Jennifer, he supported and enabled Taiwan’s transformation journey to deliver some of the strongest results in the group.
- Chun Yin Mak, CEO, China: Chun’s 25-year career has featured senior leadership roles in business transformation and technology consulting, integration and outsourcing services across North America, APAC and Greater China. His mastery of the varied and fast-paced imaginative value delivery, technology, data and ecosystem landscape coupled with his ability to identify and take action on significant growth opportunities from evolving market conditions will bring an unprecedented transformative view to the group. Chun will continue to be a member of the dentsu APAC Executive Committee.
- Simone Tam, CEO, Greater Bay Area: Simone has been with the dentsu group for eight years, overseeing both Dentsu Creative and dentsu Hong Kong as CEO since 2021. She has won a number of accolades over the course of her career, most recently Marketech APAC's 'Empowered Women’. Under her leadership, the Hong Kong business has been on a strong winning streak and she draws from her 30 years’ experience in creative agencies growing clients to bring a unique perspective to the group. Recognising Simone’s success overseeing dentsu Hong Kong and the huge potential of the Greater Bay Area, Simone is being elevated to oversee a geo-centric business unit comprising of the hyper-growth territories of Hong Kong, the Guangdong Province and Macao as CEO, Greater Bay Area.
- Donna Kim, CEO, Korea: Donna has 30 years of experience successfully building domestic enterprises for large global MarComms businesses. Her deep level of industry knowledge, thorough understanding of building brands in and out of Korea brings a strong media perspective to the fore.
Jennifer Tang, CEO, Greater North Asia commented: “We’ve been given a significant opportunity to drive unprecedented scale and build our business around our clients and their needs which is unique to dentsu and our model in market. The formation of this cluster ultimately drives greater opportunity for our clients, giving them frictionless access to a collaborative community of experts across marketing, consulting and technology. I am excited to work with the exceptional leaders in Joshua, Chun, Simone and Donna who bring significant expertise across a range of specialisms. Together we will drive new growth for brands and opportunities for our people by delivering new services and solutions that tackle our clients’ greatest challenges, fuelling our growth and broadening the horizons for professional development within our teams.”