Dentsu International names Patricio De Matteis as the new ANZ CEO

Dentsu International has appointed Patricio De Matteis as its new CEO for ANZ with effect from January 2023.

De Matteis brings over 25 years of experience in marketing, digital and consulting and has worked across Australia, New Zealand and Asian markets and a brief stint in Mexico. He is currently the chief digital officer at Cognizant in the Greater Sydney Area.

Past roles included executive positions with PwC Australia and Accenture Interactive (now Song). During his 14-year tenure with Accenture Interactive, he helped build the business from ground up to a 1600+ person, multibillion dollar entity. He oversaw the acquisition of The Monkeys, Maud and Fjord in the local market, as well as Pacific Link Group in China and IMJ in Japan.

De Matteis will join the Dentsu ANZ team in January, replacing Angela Tangas who recently moved to the UK within the Dentsu network. He will be based in Sydney and report to the APAC CEO Robert Gilby who was appointed in July this year.

“Patricio has a genuine understanding and appreciation of the importance of history, heritage and creativity having worked across both the ANZ and APAC markets, including some time living in Dentsu’s birthplace, Japan,” said Gilby. "His attitude to sustainable growth was immediately clear and his commitment to people and doing what is right cemented in our minds that we had found the right person to lead the business.

The move marks a transitional period for Dentsu, which has seen a number of senior appointments to its leadership team. In ANZ, this is the network’s fourth CEO in four years, following Tangas, Henry Tajer and Simon Ryan.

However, the network’s ANZ business has seen three years of sustained revenue and margin growth. In Q1 2022, a 13.6% organic growth rate was registered with multiple strategic clients wins and retentions, and improved year-on-year employee engagement despite current business and market conditions.