Dentsu Branded Agencies appoints Adam Good as chief digital officer

Good will be relocating from Sydney to Singapore to take on the newly created role, which will see him head up and oversee DBA’s digital initiatives as across Asia-Pacific. DBA is the global creative network of Dentsu agencies.

He will be reporting to Takaki Hibino, CEO of DBA and Dentsu Media Asia Pacific.

Good joins from Telstra Sydney, where he led the overall strategic direction and execution of the company’s digital media solutions, content services and advertising sales in his role as director of digital media and content.

In a statement, Hibino described Good as a “proven digital marketer” with a “deep understanding of how brands are being built in the digital economy.”

Good boasts a career spanning 25 years including senior roles such as executive VP at Proximity Worldwide San Francisco, executive director of digital innovation at Clemenger Group and president of Tribal DDB Worldwide Asia Pacific.

Speaking to Campaign Asia-Pacific, Good said his time on the client-side has brought a new perspective to where the industry stands in terms of digital maturity and adoption.

“I was very impressed with DBA, in terms of where they are in the evolution of digital and what their aspirations are in this space,” he said.

Asked to name an immediate priority area in his new role, he said that he will be looking at business planning for clients.

“The chief marketer doesn’t work in isolation and sits with the CEO and CTO in aligning business objectives,” he added. “Many organisations are looking seriously at digital transformation and how it can better enable their business. This is where we can play a role.”

Asked how comfortable organisations would be in having their ad agency partner take on a more proactive role in business planning, when it is typically the remit of consultancies, Good pointed out that the advertising industry has long been a catalyst and driver of digital transformation.

“With the merging of services, there is indeed an overlap today but where consultancies come at it from an angle of buying and deploying technology, agencies come from the perspective of understanding the customer,” he said.

Good said more clients are realising that to benefit in this new digital economy, it’s not a technology decision but rather a culture decision. And the advertising industry’s position of strength in understanding customers through data and insights, puts them in a very strong partner position, he added.

“We will definitely have a seat at the table, in navigating the evolution of the digital economy and using technology provide a much better customer experience," he said. "That’s what businesses ultimately want, happy and engaged customers.”