Robert Gilby appointed CEO APAC, Dentsu International

Dentsu International has announced the appointment of Robert (Rob) Gilby as CEO APAC, Dentsu International, effective September 5, 2022.

“Rob is an exceptionally well-rounded leader with a progressive approach that deeply understands the future of the industry and opportunities for growth, for our people, our clients and our business,” said Dentsu International CEO, Wendy Clark. “Importantly, he clearly demonstrated his long-term vision, values-based leadership style and passion for building high-performance, diverse teams that is fundamental to the way we do business at dentsu.”

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Gilby will be responsible for unifying the APAC region’s 11,600 talented people in 18 markets around dentsu’s global ambition to be the most integrated network in the world. He has a strong platform for growth with the region’s transformation agenda showing positive results, delivering +4.7% organic revenue growth in FY2021 with momentum continuing into Q1 2022 delivering 5.2% organic revenue growth. His appointment follows the global launch of Dentsu Creative, with dentsu awarded Asia Pacific Regional Network of the Year and Dentsu Creative India named Global Agency of the Year at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. This momentum, coupled with Rob’s knowledge of the region, understanding of the advancing habits of Asian consumers and view on the future of the industry is a catalyst for growth, cementing the future success of dentsu’s APAC business.

On joining the agency, Gilby said, “I was instantly drawn to dentsu’s compelling vision with its rich heritage as the only holding company born out of Asia. It is a privilege to be leading this region with the world looking to the Asia Pacific region as its GDP growth is forecasted to remain strong, the emerging middle-class booms and rapid digitisation and investment in homegrown platforms leapfrog existing technologies. Dentsu’s ability to understand people better than anyone else and vision for horizontal creativity coupled with these market conditions creates an exciting opportunity for brands to thrive.”

Gilby has 30 years of experience in the Media and Entertainment industry and has worked in Asia Pacific for over 25 years. He has a proven track-record of growing profitable businesses, including WarnerMedia and The Walt Disney Company, with extensive experience in markets, including Australia, China, India, Southeast Asia and Singapore. He joins dentsu from Nielsen, where he is President, APAC responsible for building relationships with key media owners, brands and agencies to deliver audience insights across the media ecosystem. Prior to that, he was CEO & Founder, Blue Hat Ventures, an investment and advisory firm focussed on identifying and commercialising high-growth businesses in the Digital Media sector in Asia Pacific. He has held non-executive board and advisory roles at the Ministry of Communications & Information, the InfoComm Media Development Authority and the Singapore Media Festival.

He will be based in Singapore, reporting to Wendy Clark, Global CEO, Dentsu International, and joins the Dentsu International Executive team.