Dentsu Singapore sweeps record 20 wins at the Agency of the Year Awards 2023

• Merkle Singapore named Overall Agency of the Year for second year
• Dentsu Singapore is Agency Team of the Year (Gold) with Best Agency Culture (Silver)
• Best Agency-Client Partnership awarded to Dentsu Singapore and NCS (Silver); and Merkle Singapore and Income (Bronze)

Dentsu Singapore celebrates an unprecedented 20 wins at Marketing Interactive’s Agency of the Year Awards 2023 (AOTY), with 6 Gold awards, 7 Silver awards, 6 Bronze awards, and the Overall Agency of the Year awarded to Merkle Singapore for the second consecutive year.

Prakash Kamdar, CEO, Clients & Solutions, Southeast Asia, and CEO of Singapore & Indonesia, dentsu said, “Our evolution over the past three years and now our record awards showing all do not come easy. It has been made possible by our teams across dentsu Singapore who have tirelessly brought excellence and innovation to fore together as one network. The industry endorsement that we have received through this awards have shown us that nothing can stop us when we have clients and partners who believe in us and in the true spirit of partnership to create genuine impact, when we have an amazing culture, and when we have a strong pipeline of young talents who will be our leaders of tomorrow. As we continue to bring our teams and capabilities together, I am confident that the only way forward for dentsu Singapore is UP and am therefore looking forward to an even stronger year ahead together with my team here.”

The awards recognise dentsu Singapore’s achievements in the past year backed by strong client demand across all services; innovative developments such as the launch of Dentsu VI, a global virtual identity solution, and the complete integration of its CXM agency portfolio, Merkle and Merkle B2B, into its business.

Overall, dentsu Singapore was awarded in the following categories:

• Agency of the Year: Merkle Singapore
• Agency Team of the Year: dentsu Singapore (Gold)
• Analytics Agency of the Year: Merkle Singapore (Gold)
• Best-Agency Client Partnership: Dentsu Singapore and NCS (Silver), Merkle Singapore and Income (Bronze)
• Best Agency Culture: dentsu Singapore (Silver)
• Consultant of the Year: Merkle Singapore (Gold)
• CRM & Loyalty Agency of the Year: Merkle Singapore (Gold)
• eCommerce Agency of the Year: iProspect Singapore (Bronze)
• Full-service Agency of the Year: dentsu Singapore (Bronze)
• Integrated Marketing Agency of the Year: dentsu Singapore (Bronze)
• MarTech Agency of the Year: Merkle Singapore (Gold)
• Mobile Marketing Agency of the Year: Merkle Singapore (Silver)
• Performance Marketing Agency of the Year: Merkle Singapore (Silver)
• Programmatic Agency of the Year: Merkle Singapore (Gold), iProspect Singapore (Silver)
• Rising Star: Brenda Chia, Senior Client Manager, Carat, Media Group, dentsu Singapore (Bronze)
• Search Agency of the Year: Merkle Singapore (Silver), iProspect Singapore (Bronze)
• Specialist Agency of the Year: Merkle Singapore (Silver)

With five Golds, four Silvers, and one Bronze secured across various specialist categories, dentsu Singapore’s CXM agency, Merkle Singapore, defended its reign as overall Agency of the Year, clinching the coveted title for the second year running.

In an ever-changing data and privacy landscape, Merkle Singapore continues to refine a holistic and precise approach combining data, MarTech and analytics, to support brands in making real-time decisions that deliver personalised customer experiences. Merkle Singapore will continue to complement dentsu Singapore’s creative and media capabilities in bringing more integrated solutions to the market.

Sanchit Mendiratta, Managing Director, Merkle Singapore, said: “Our integration into dentsu has continued to propel us to new heights as we solidify our position as Agency of the Year for the second year. Where we are today is all because of our clients who appreciate the strength of Merkle Singapore’s full suite of offerings that is backed by dentsu’s global network and heritage. It is also because of our passionate team who are the ultimate secret sauce to Merkle Singapore’s success. Moving forward, we see immense opportunities over the horizon and are excited to deliver more transformative customer experience at scale for our clients beyond Singapore and across the Southeast Asian region. With our win as a specialist agency for clients in financial services, we also look forward to offering more with our innate understanding of how the financial industry works.”

iProspect Singapore was also recognised for its specialisms in eCommerce (Bronze), Programmatic (Silver) and Search (Bronze). Over the past year, iProspect has fused strong media strategy and planning, storytelling, with a performance mindset to deliver successful digital-first media strategies underpinned by data and technology at every touchpoint in the consumer journey.

Pankaj Nayak, Managing Director, Media Group, dentsu Singapore, commented: “Our commitment to performance-driven brand building, fuelled by data and technology, enables us to create successful strategies that resonate with consumers throughout their journey. As the digital landscape evolves, our teams are poised to lead with innovation and expertise, setting new standards for excellence in the digital marketing sphere. Our people also continue to be the fuel for our success and for that I am so proud that our Senior Client Manager, Brenda Chia, has been named one of the industry’s Rising Stars, with two other talents also making the shortlist. We are looking forward to taking on new heights.”

In addition to the awarded categories, dentsu Singapore’s was also shortlisted for:

• Best Agency-Client Partnership: iProspect Singapore and Hilton
• B2B Agency of the Year: Merkle B2B
• Creative Agency of the Year: Dentsu Creative Singapore
• Digital Agency of the Year: Merkle Singapore
• eCommerce Marketing Agency of the Year: Merkle Singapore
• Experiential Marketing Agency of the Year: Dentsu Creative Singapore
• Influencer Agency of the Year: Dentsu Creative Singapore
• Performance Marketing Agency of the Year: iProspect Singapore
• Agency Leader of the Year: Prakash Kamdar, CEO, Clients & Solutions, Southeast Asia, and CEO, dentsu Singapore and dentsu Indonesia
• Rising Star: Andy Tan, Business Development Manager, Media, dentsu APAC
• Yujia Lim, Senior Client Manager, dentsu X, Media Group, dentsu Singapore

Marketing Interactive’s Agency of the Year Awards is Singapore’s premier awards program to measure, reward, and recognise the industry’s top-performing agencies. In 2022, dentsu Singapore scored a large haul of 10 wins at the awards, including the commendation of Prakash Kamdar, CEO, dentsu Singapore and Indonesia, as Agency Leader of the Year (Gold).