Dentsu's Wendy Clark on Her First Year as CEO

When Wendy Clark interviewed for the CEO role at Dentsu, she understood the job would entail a massive task: the integration of nearly 200 acquisitions over a six-year period. Dentsu's acquisition spree led to a complex and bloated leadership team. Job No. 1 to combat that complexity: a rebrand and consolidation. Dentsu Aegis Network became just Dentsu, consolidating 170 brands to six. "We had some fundamental rewiring that needed to happen heading into the pandemic," Clark said, noting the network had experienced nine consecutive quarters of revenue declines before turning a corner earlier this year with 17% year-over-year growth in Q2. Growth, agility and efficiency Simplifying a network of assets that largely hadn't been integrated was critical to deliver what all clients need: growth, agility and efficiency. Clark said that well over a quarter of its briefs are integrated using two or three of its services, and in the U.S. that number is over 40%. Although her most recent stop before Dentsu was leading Omnicom's DDB, Clark leans most heavily on her experience on the client side—she nicknamed her alter ego Connie Client—to be able to evaluate Dentsu's direction. Exclusive: Here’s What Dentsu’s Reorganization Actually Looks Like Even though clients are using multiple services, Clark said they aren't interested in how Dentsu is consolidating the network. "I was a client for most of my career. I don't care about your plumbing and your wiring; just give me what I need." And what they need in an agency partner is delivering growth in fast and cost-effective ways. As for those wiring and plumbing upgrades, the most visible came in January when media agency Vizeum folded into performance marketing agency iProspect. "That was the ultimate litmus test," Clark said. "If we can do that, then the little ones are easier to do." Following that merger, Clark said none of the clients reported any negative impacts. In fact, Clark said Dentsu reported its highest referral ratings from clients in three years. "We're on a journey and I think our employees, clients and shareholders are buying into the journey," Clark said. "There's not an ounce of me that is waving victory, but a year later, I have much more certainty about what the future can and will hold." Data is at the heart of Dentsu In July, Dentsu named FCB's Fred Levron its global creative chief. Levron leaves the iconic IPG agency and will take the wheel at Dentsu on Nov. 1. One of the things that drew Levron to Dentsu is Merkle, the network's data and intelligence agency. Clark said Merkle's value proposition is to understand humans better than anyone else and then use that to solve the identity issues arising as the third-party cookie goes away. How Cookies Work and Why They’re Going Away "There's not one client you talk to who doesn't talk about aggregation of first-party data," Clark said. The organization is homing in on personalization and targeting to create loyal customers who transact in ways that make it easier for Dentsu to track. Dentsu Connect is the spine, as Clark calls it, that will power the network's end-to-end data and technology offering, which clients will have access to. The goal is to make it easier across the network to collaborate using its data and intelligence. Dentsu Connect will serve other purposes as well—it will be the bedrock for Dentsu on Demand, which will allow Dentsu to adapt to a growing desire from brands to hire more agencies for project-based work. Clark said even its bigger clients are interested in being able to deliver briefs outside an AOR relationship. My job is accountability, so you can't let it slide. That sort of thing gets out.Wendy Clark, Dentsu CEO "It's like the Staples button," Clark said, describing it as a service that can be turned on at a moment's notice to meet a client's need. Dentsu on Demand will help brands' in-house units for limited periods, an increasingly common request, Clark said. "It's not the spine agencies typically build, but we have to be ready for that," Clark said. DEI accountability starts with Clark According to Dentsu's most recent report on diversity, equity and inclusion, 27% of the company identifies as BIPOC, with lower rates at the executive and management levels of 20.1% and 19.7% respectively. The company's goal is to hit 30% by 2025. It's Clark's job to ensure the company hits that mark. "You have to be willing to be super present and interrogating into the whys," Clark said, referring to how she stops meeting on succession planning, for instance, to address org charts that lack diversity and work with the agency to get it the resources it needs to overcome any barriers. "My job is accountability, so you can't let it slide. That sort of thing gets out." Dentsu appointed three chief equity officers across its network to handle different regions—Christena Pyle for Dentsu Americas, Pauline Miller for EMEA and Rashmi Vikram for APAC. They guide Clark, helping her understand what's happening across each region. "Without having these people in these positions, we were missing critical components to being the company we thought we were or the company we want to be," Clark said, adding Pyle's hammers home the need for cultural fluency and curiosity that happens organically. Clark said it's not enough for employees to know their own lived experience, but wants, through collaboration, for employees to understand each other's experiences and perspectives. At Dentsu, 57.7% of the employees identify as women, up from 53.6% from 2020, but the company's executive team lags behind as 36% of the team are women. Clark has set a goal that women make up 50% of her executive leadership team by 2025. Clark acknowledges she stands alone among her peers—she's the only woman leading a major holding company—and the responsibility that comes with it. The question Clark gets the most: "How did you get to this position in your career?" Clark said it's been about trade-offs and to work hard, but her message to women—and men—you can have it all with the right perspective. "Can women really have it all? Of course you can have it all. You just can't have it all all at once if you look too narrowly," said Clark, whose family home remains in Atlanta, 5 years after leaving an 8-year stint at Coca-Cola. To have it all, Clark says she thinks bigger because each day can't always check every box with her schedule, "I look at in a weekly increment rather than a day." Many Brands Aren’t Confident About Their Measurement Capabilities—Dentsu Shares How to Change That

The Future of Agencies

One Year in as Dentsu CEO, Wendy Clark Explains Why It's Growing Again—and How She'll Keep it That Way

She reflects on where the company differentiates itself in the market

Growth, agility and efficiency

Jameson Fleming

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