EXCLUSIVE: Dentsu Australia is to launch in Australia this week as a standalone agency, with the new outpost headed by two executives from Dentsu Canada.
The launch follows months of uncertainty and speculation, but AdNews can reveal details of the new set up.
The Sydney-based office will be headed by Dentsu Canada president and chief executive Bob Shropshire as president and chief executive, as well as Dentsu Canada vice president group account director Emma Hancock as managing director. Shropshire will retain his Canadian role and will be based out of Canada, while Hancock will be based in Sydney.
The official date of launch for the Australian operation is Saturday 30 April. The agency will launch with four staff members.
The agency will service pre-existing international client relationships, and forge new local partnerships. At the end of 2010, the agency pitched unsuccessfully for the Nintendo creative account.
While Dentsu would not comment on its launch clients, it was reported last year that Dentsu would be entering the market in February to service the advertising account for the Toyota Yaris brand.
This followed the surprise announcement that Dentsu had snared the Yaris account from Droga5, only three months after it had been appointed to the business. The launch of Dentsu's Australian office had been kept under wraps following the delay until now.
Industry sources previously speculated that Dentsu would buy out or team up with a pre-existing Australian agency, after the Japanese ad agency tried unsuccessfully to enter the Australian market through an alliance with Oddfellows in 2008.
Dentsu also had a presence in Australia in the 1990s when it owned BAM. However, a Dentsu spokesperson in Japan said the agency is entering Australia "as a stand-alone agency".
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