Dentsu replaces China CEO for media business

Dentsu has promoted Terrence Yung, the COO of its media line of service in China, to replace CEO Tony Chen who had only been named to the position earlier this year.  In a release, Dentsu said Chen, the former CEO of iProspect China, was stepping down to spend more time with family. It recognised Chen's contribution in simplifying its media offering and winning key accounts this year.

Yung will now oversee Dentsu's media offering in China, reporting jointly to Dentsu China CEO Michelle Lau and Dentsu's global media and client CEO Peter Huijboom.

Dentsu's statement stressed client centricity will be high on Yung's agenda, noting his earlier senior client partnership experience and role as the client president leading the integrated team for Coca-Cola.  In his position as COO, Dentsu said Yung has carried out operational and transformation duties with a strong client focus in mind.

Prior to Dentsu, Yung was the vice president of ZenithOptimedia China where he managed key blue-chip clients like L'Oreal and LVMH. He joined Aegis Media in 2014 as the CEO of Vizeum China and continued in that role after Dentsu's acquisition until 2017 when he took up China client president role for Dentsu Aegis Network before moving on to be COO of media. 

On his appointment Yung underlined his desire to better cater to marketers, saying: "Our new integrated services model that puts our clients at the center of everything we do allows us to meet the changing needs of CMOs better and faster. Our recent new business results profoundly demonstrate how this simplified approach resonates in the market. I look forward to building on this momentum as we continue to evolve and grow to meet the future demands of our clients".

Yung was referencing a recent streak of strong media wins for Dentsu in China including Nestle and McDonald's media buying. The China market has unperformed significantly for Dentsu in recent years, weighing on last year's full annual results and still hurting its global peformance in its most recent quarterly earnings. 

Yung will likely also face the challenge of further integrating Dentsu's media agency brands in China.  Since dropping the 'Dentsu Aegis Network' name six weeks ago, Dentsu has avoided public references to Carat, Dentsu X and Vizeum by name and has noted a major consolidation of agency brands is on the way.