This interview was originally published at Manifest.
Yuichi Toyoda, CEO, dentsu APAC, explains why he and the network are extremely bullish about the Indian market.
What two things stand out for you regarding the Indian market?
One thing that stands out for me is speed. India moves with instinct. It adopts quickly, learns constantly, and keeps moving even while figuring things out. What doesn’t work gets reshaped fast. This may be rooted in jugaad, a mindset I came to understand and respect during my four years in India in the 2010s. The diversity of cultures and consumer behaviours makes the market incredibly dynamic and agile, and I’m pleased to see that dentsu India is structured to keep up with—and stay ahead of—that speed and dynamism.
Technology adoption is another defining characteristic. India has one of the highest rates of AI and digital innovation in the region. Consumers are open to experimenting with new platforms and services, and these technologies quickly form part of everyday life. That combination of scale, diversity, agility, and openness makes India an incredibly powerful testing ground for innovation, which is why we’ve launched a Dentsu Labs hub in the market.
For dentsu, India is one of our fastest-growing markets, delivering double-digit growth across APAC. Some of our region’s most creative and awarded work comes out of India. Alongside our local business of 2,800+ employees, the country is home to Dentsu Global Services (DGS) which is a team of more than 6,700+ specialists. Combined, we have approximately 9,500 people in India supporting some of the world’s largest brands across media, creative, data, engineering, technology and AI.
What are dentsu’s two focus areas this year?
One focus is accelerating client centricity.
This means going beyond marketing and communications to understand our clients’ broader business challenges and delivering Integrated Growth Solutions that drive sustainable growth and transformation.
We are structuring our organisation to increase speed. It starts with a simple question: how are we helping our clients grow and transform? That requires being close to the market and listening carefully—what we call Gemba in Japanese, being where things actually happen. This mindset is embedded across dentsu.
The second focus is unlocking the full power of our network.
We are connecting the strengths of dentsu Japan and our APAC markets through deeper collaboration, bringing together capabilities across media, creative, data, technology, experience, and business transformation to deliver the best solutions for our clients.
Many of our clients operate regionally or globally, but growth starts locally. Our role is to build strong local insights and innovation, and then scale what works across the region.
This is where dentsu has a distinctive advantage. As the only Asian-born global network with over 125 years in the region, we have a deep understanding of the diversity and complexity of APAC markets. Each market is different, and success comes from respecting those differences while connecting capabilities to scale ideas, technology, and innovation across the region.
Ultimately, our ambition is simple: to be the best Asian partner for our clients by combining deep local insight, strong innovation, and the ability to scale across APAC to drive growth.
