Beijing Dentsu appoints Akimasa Baba as CEO

“The reason for the change is that we need a business transformation," Takaki Hibino, CEO of Dentsu Branded Agencies and Dentsu Media Asia Pacific, told Campaign Asia-Pacific. "The business in China is growing very fast. Baba will help drive the digital business as well.”

Beijing Dentsu has relied more on Japanese clients in the past, but through Baba’s leadership will aim to increase revenue from non-Japanese clients, including both Chinese clients and multinationals, Hibino said.

Baba brings 30 years of experience to the job. In May 2003 he was appointed as CEO of then newly established agency Dentsu Media Thailand. Baba went on to develop it into “one of the largest agencies in the market”.

In 2013, Baba was also appointed as the representative officer of Dentsu in the London office and worked on the post-merger integration of Dentsu Aegis Network.

He is concurrently global president of Dentsu media and managing director of the global business center of Dentsu Inc. Dentsu Aegis Network will announce a replacement for the global president of Dentsu Media in due course.

Baba sees his appointment as a significant milestone. “I will be looking to support the incredible talent we have in the Beijing Dentsu," he said. "And working with the leadership team at Dentsu Aegis Network China to hit our ambitious targets for the agency,” 

Motohiro Yamagishi, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network China, said Baba has been an “outstanding performer for many years” and that his appointment was an “easy choice for this significant role” in the business.