DAN appoints APAC chief growth officer

Dentsu Aegis Network APAC has promoted Masaya Nakamura to deputy chairman and chief growth officer, reporting to Takaki Hibino in his new role as executive chairman. The latter move was announced in December, along with the departure of APAC CEO Nick Waters. 

Nakamura was appointed executive officer of Dentsu Inc in 2018 and moved to Singapore to become global and Asia Pacific executive client president for Dentsu Aegis Network. He will now work with Hibino to drive sustainable growth, further develop DAN's client-centric model and look for new opportunities for the business beyond advertising, according to a release.

"Today is my first day in the role of executive chairman, and I’m keen to put in place the best team to help me grow the business," Hibino said. He added that it's important for Dentsu Aegis Network and Dentsu Inc to combine strengths from both businesses to grow even further. 

Nakamura said the network has "a great deal of incredible talent" and will "look at many different and innovative ways" to deliver sustainable, long-term growth.

Nakamura has put in 29 years at Dentsu Inc., working with clients including Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Bridgestone.

Waters is moving to London to be executive chairman of DAN for the UK and Ireland, taking over from Stef Calcraft, who stepped down after less than a year in that role.