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 Headquarters inHigashi-Shinbashi,Minato, Tokyo | |
Native name | 株式会社電通グループ |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki-gaisha Dentsū Gurūpu |
| Formerly | Japan Advertising Ltd. (1901-1907) Japan Telegraphic Communications (1907-1955) Dentsu Inc. (1955-2020) |
| Company type | Public (K.K.) |
| TYO:4324 | |
| Industry | Advertising Public relations Information, Communication |
| Founded | July 1, 1901; 123 years ago (1901-07-01) (as Japan Advertising Ltd.) |
| Founder | Hoshiro Mitsunaga |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Hiroshi Igarashi (President) |
| Revenue |  ¥1.018 trillion (2018)[1] |
| ¥61.4 billion (FY 2018)[1] | |
Number of employees | 62,608 (2018)[2] |
| Subsidiaries | Dentsu Dentsu Live Dentsu Promotion Plus Dentsu International |
| Website | www |
Dentsu Group Inc.[a], simply known asDentsu[b], stylized asdentsu, is a Japanese international advertising and public relationsjoint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is the largestadvertising agency in Japan and the fifth largest advertising agency network in the world in terms of worldwide revenues.[3][4][verification needed]
In 2018, Dentsu announced its reorganization into a holding company and as a result, most of the company's functions (including its advertising business) moved to a new company under the Dentsu name and the existing company rebranding to the Dentsu Group name, the changes took effect by January 1, 2020.
Dentsu was originally established asJapan Advertising Ltd. (日本広告株式会社,Nihon Kōkoku Kabushiki-gaisha) andTelegraphic Service Co. (電報通信社,Denpō Tsūshin-sha) byHoshiro Mitsunaga [ja]. In 1906, Telegraphic Service Co. becameJapan Telegraphic Communication Co., Ltd. (株式会社日本電報通信社,Kabushiki-gaisha Nihon Denpō Tsūshin-sha). The next year, Japan Advertising Ltd. merged with Japan Telegraphic Communication Co., Ltd. to create advertising and communications operations. Japan Telegraphic Communication Co., Ltd. sold off its news division toDoumei News Agency in 1936 to change the company's focus to specialized advertising. In 1943, 16 companies were acquired in order to supplement Japan Telegraphic's advertising business. That same year, operational bases were established in Tokyo,Osaka,Nagoya, andKyūshū. With the 1951 arrival of commercial radio broadcasting in Japan, the Radio Division was established at Japan Telegraphic's head and local offices.
In 1955, Japan Telegraphic Communication Co., Ltd. changed its name toDentsu Inc.[5] 1995 saw Dentsu creating five domestic regional subsidiaries.[6] On December 10, 2018, Dentsu announced its intention to restructure into a holding company which would form another company under the Dentsu name handling its advertising and production divisions.[7]
Dentsu was listed on theTokyo Stock Exchange in 2001. During theinitial public offering of Dentsu, in December 2001, a trader atUBS Warburg, the Swiss investment bank, sent an order to sell 610,000 shares in this company at ¥6 each, while he intended to sell 16 shares at ¥600,000. The bank lost £71 million.[8]
Dentsu's sales are more than double its nearest competitor,Hakuhodo orADK, in theJapanese market, thanks to the company's origins as a media representative during the early part of the 20th century, producing the first newspaper advertisements as well as the first television commercials in Japan.[citation needed]
In July 2003, Dentsu acquiredPioneer LDC fromPioneer Corporation and renamed it to Geneon Entertainment, while its North American division, Pioneer Entertainment, was renamed to Geneon USA.[9]
On November 12, 2008, Dentsu announced that it was selling 80.1% of its ownership in Geneon toNBCUniversal's Universal Pictures International Entertainment (UPI), who planned to merge the company with its Universal Pictures Japan division to form a new company.[10][11] The merger closed on February 1, 2009.
On 12 July 2012, Dentsu agreed to acquire British-basedAegis Group plc in a cash deal worth $4.9 billion. The deal was completed in March 2013.[12]Dentsu Aegis Network, managed all Aegis Media work and non-Japanese Dentsu operations worldwide.[13] In September 2020 Dentsu Group Inc. announced that its international business Dentsu Aegis Network will operate under the dentsu brand. This simplification has seen three lines of business established across media, customer relationship management, and creative. The business is registered as Dentsu International Limited with UK Companies House in October 2020.[14]
In April 2015, Dentsu announced the launch of a corporate venture capital fund, Dentsu Ventures, to provide companies across the U.S., Europe, and Asia with capital and business support. In the same month, Dentsu Ventures Global Fund I was launched with a total capital of five billion yen.[15]
In May 2021, Dentsu Ventures Global Fund II was launched with a total capital of ten billion yen.[16]
Dentsu Ventures investments includeCheddar,Clear Labs,Exo,GRAIL,Overtime,OpenWeb,Survios,Twist Bioscience,Tynker, andUpside Foods.[17]
In July 2023, Dentsu announced that it had founded its ownanime business, Dentsu Anime Solutions, to boost its presence in the anime industry.[18]
In August 2023, it was announced Dentsu had acquired theBerlin-headquartered digital-first brand, communications and creative agency, RCKT. The RCKT brand would be retained during a period of integration, becoming known as “RCKT, a Dentsu Creative Company”.[19]
In 2018 Dentsu acquired GlobalMind, a LATAM based digital first agency based out of Argentina and Miami, USA.GlobalMind was the #1 independent media agency in LATAM owner of iColic, a creative agency which helped GlobalMind on the endeavour of conquering Latin America.Andy Berman and Marcelo Montefiore were the co-CEOs of The agency until they sold it to Dentsu.
Dentsu Inc. categorises project markets in four different parts: National advertisement market; Advertisement-related market; New market; Foreign market (in addition to Dentsu Aegis Network, its overseas subsidiary, which operates in over 120 countries). National advertisement market consists of media projects. Advertisement related projects consist of marketing services. New market consists of sport events advertisement. Foreign market contains above mentioned three categories in the foreign market.
The Dentsu Building is a high-rise building inShiodome,Minato,Tokyo, which houses Dentsu's corporate offices. With 48 floors that rise to 213.34 m (700 ft), it is the eleventh-tallest building in Tokyo. It was designed byJean Nouvel, the French architect, and completed in 2002. It was built over the site of Tokyo's first railway station, and sits aside theHamarikyu Gardens, formerly the site of ashōgun's vacation home.
Since 1925, Dentsu employees have had a company tradition of climbingMount Fuji.[20] Every July all new staff and newly promoted executives climb Mt Fuji. Employees who are not physically able to do so are exempt. A former employee gave the reasoning behind this as: "The message is: 'We are going to conquer the one symbol that represents Japan more than anything else. And, once we do that, it will signify that we can do anything.'"[21]
In August 2015, Dentsu was caught exceeding its own 70-hour monthly maximum overtime limit.[22] In December, Matsuri Takahashi, aUniversity of Tokyo graduate and 24-year-old female employee of Dentsu, committed suicide.[23] TheJapanese government recognized her suicide askaroshi, a Japanese term for death from overworking.[22]In July 2017, the company was charged by Japanese authorities for the death of Takahashi. No individuals were charged, only the corporation.[24] The company admitted allowing illegal levels of overtime[25] and was convicted in October, paying ¥500,000 in fines.[26]
Mr. Tadashi Ishii, Representative Director and President &CEO, notified Dentsu on December 28, 2016 that he will resign as Representative Director and President & CEO.[23] His papers were sent to the prosecutors office because of the violation of theLabor Standards Act.[27] Over a half century of ongoing overworking was documented byThe New York Times,[23] including training materials supporting a Dentsu president urging working "even if it kills you."
A 2017 attempt to encourage letting workers "leave the office at 3 p.m. on the last Friday of the month" did not get much participation.[28] Also in 2017, a former executive creative director of Dentsu Japan has resigned from his own company following allegations he sexually harassed a woman during his tenure at the advertising giant.[29]
In 2022, a former executive at Dentsu was arrested on suspicion of receiving bribes from sponsors of the2020 Summer Olympics. In February 2023, Japan's competition regulator filed criminal complaints against six firms, including Dentsu, over allegedbid rigging of contracts for the games.[30] The companies were charged under anti-monopoly law and accused of lowering the competitiveness of their tenders. The case also saw the arrest of a senior Olympic official from Japan and the head of Dentsu's sports division. The company has admitted liability.[31] The corruption scandal has clouded the chance of landing the2030 Winter Olympics by the city ofSapporo, an early favorite.[32]
According to one media report, Dentsu does business with almost every major institution in Japan, accounting for about 28 percent of the national advertising budget.[33] Its connections to the government are so tight thatThe New York Times referred to Dentsu as "the unofficial communications department of the governingLiberal Democratic Party", and it has also been likened to theCIA on account of its reach.[33]
Dentsu played a major role as a management company duringRoki Sasuki's MLB team selection process that resulted in his signing with the Dodgers in 2025.[34]
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