Dentsu to merge Isobar into Dentsu Digital in Japan

Dentsu Japan Network, the entity that runs the Dentsu group's business in Japan, has announced that it will merge Dentsu Digital and Dentsu Isobar into a single company called Dentsu Digital, effective July 1.

At the same time, Dentsu will also combine Dentsu Direct Marketing and DA Search & Link into a new company to be known as Dentsu Direct.

The moves are part of an ongoing structural reform that aims to organise Dentsu's current advertising, creative, marketing, digital, media, content and other domains around four new business domains known as AX (advertising transformation), BX (business transformation), CX (customer experience transformation) and DX (digital transformation). 

The move appears to spell the end of the Isobar brand name in Japan. It's unclear whether the change eliminates any jobs or whether the merger might foreshadow a similar move in Dentsu's international business, which it has previously announced will shed about 12.5% of its workforce and combine the number of operating brands from 160 to six. Campaign Asia-Pacific has reached out to Dentsu for clarification on these questions.

The merger of Dentsu Digital and Dentsu Isobar will help to "accomplish problem solving with higher creativity and integration capabilities", according to the company. Dentsu Digital will offer services ranging from DX promotion through to "overall design and operation of customer experience that enables branding".

"The fusion of the current Dentsu Digital’s wide range of solutions expertise and integration capabilities with Dentsu Isobar’s creativity and technology will enable the new Dentsu Digital to offer CX design capabilities, global capabilities and commerce building capabilities," a release stated.

Dentsu Digital will have approximately 2,000 employees, which the company said will improve its ability to respond to clients' need for sophistication and scaling. Combining the management methods and corporate cultures of both companies will enhance the entity's strength and reliability, the company added.

The merger of Dentsu Direct Marketing and DA Search & Link will combine Dentsu Direct Marketing’s strengths in response media with DA Search & Link’s digital marketing expertise, the company said.