Dentsu partners with Facebook for 'commerce bootcamp'

Dentsu has developed a commerce training programme for its Asia-Pacific staff in partnership with Facebook.

Facebook's product experts will train Dentsu employees on the social network's portfolio of commerce products and solutions, including Facebook Marketplace and Facebook Shops, an online shopfront launched in May this year.

The training programme is called 'Open for Business' and covers 14 markets in APAC. It is split into five modules totalling 20.5 hours. Denstu said that 100 of its commerce experts across APAC have participated in the learning programme.

Dentsu APAC's VP of commercials and partnerships, Sunil Naryani, said the training programme forms part of the network's ambition to help clients navigate the fragmented commerce ecosystem.

"Commerce is business priority for us and we want to be partners who add meaningful progress for our clients," Naryani said. "This commerce bootcamp is a step in that direction and has already shown a positive impact in driving improved campaign results for our commerce clients."

The agency network launched a global ecommerce division, called Dentsu Commerce, in June this year and subsequently rolled it out to different regions, including ANZ in July and Singapore earlier this month. In September, Dentsu won the commerce and performance strategy account for Philips in APAC on top of defending the regional account. 

Like its peers, the agency network has struck several partnerships with local ecommerce platforms in recent months to equip its staff with best-practice knowledge. In September, Dentsu was one of five agency networks to become part of Shopee's Media Agencies Partner Program, which provides training to agency partners on the platform's suite of marketing tools.

Facebook agency director of APAC, Neil Stewart, commented: "We’re committed to helping businesses, agencies and communities across the region grow and stay ahead of trends. We aim to do this by investing in features across our apps that inspire people to shop and make buying and selling online easier. We’re also investing in initiatives, like this partnership with Denstu, that help equip our key agency partners with the most up-to-date digital skills and insights. Dentsu saw this as a huge opportunity and moved fast with such a scaled program to ensure they are well placed to guide their clients."