Published on: August 17, 2026
Dentsu is reshaping its international business with a stronger focus on artificial intelligence, Media and Data & Technology, while positioning APAC as its “Next Growth Base” for future expansion.
As part of the strategy, the advertising and marketing group plans to reinvest a portion of the savings generated through its global headquarters restructuring into growth areas. Dentsu is targeting more than JPY 50 billion in operating cost reductions by FY2027 and an operating margin of 16% by FY2028.
The company has already invested JPY 3.7 billion internally in Media, AI and Data & Technology during the first half of 2026, signalling a greater emphasis on technology-led growth alongside its cost transformation programme.
Dentsu plans to make AI a central component of its marketing and operational framework. Its strategy includes advancing “AI-powered marketing transformation”, introducing agentic workflows and embedding AI across functions such as planning and decision-making, content activation and project management.
The company also intends to develop proprietary AI solutions while strengthening and monetising its existing data assets. Its approach will follow an “open ecosystem” model, allowing dentsu to collaborate with technology partners, leverage external AI platforms and co-create new solutions.
Beyond deploying technology, dentsu aims to evolve its position as a “Growth Partner” for clients, expanding its role beyond traditional marketing services to support broader business and partner growth.
Media continues to be a key component of dentsu’s international growth plans. The group said its international Media business recorded positive organic growth for two consecutive years and remained positive during the first half of 2026.
Going forward, dentsu plans to increase the value generated by its international Media operations by prioritising key markets and scaling Media-led solutions across regions.
The strategy will also bring Media closer to Creative, customer experience management and business transformation capabilities. In EMEA, for example, dentsu aims to return the region to growth through integrated Media, Creative, CXM and BX propositions.
Dentsu’s four-region strategy categorises Japan as the “Group Core”, the Americas as the “Growth Engine”, EMEA as the “Turnaround Focus” and APAC as the “Next Growth Base”.
For APAC, dentsu plans to create additional capacity for investment by streamlining its portfolio and operations. The region will focus on increasing investment in growth markets while strengthening collaboration across countries and practices.
The company has identified data, social and commerce as priority areas for improving APAC’s competitiveness and differentiation. Greater collaboration across markets, stronger client and partner relationships and improved operational efficiency are also expected to support growth.
The AI and marketing investment programme forms part of a broader international restructuring initiative. Dentsu expects to reduce its Global HQ costs by approximately 30% by FY2028 compared with its FY2026 plan.
The group also intends to reduce the number of international entities by approximately 70–80 during FY2026, while considering a further reduction of around 50–80 entities by FY2028.
Dentsu expects some markets to remain loss-making during FY2026 amid continued macroeconomic uncertainty. The company aims to eliminate loss-making markets by FY2027 among those that had received more than JPY 10 billion in cumulative investment as of February 2025.
By FY2028, dentsu expects all four regions to contribute positively to shareholder value as it combines cost optimisation with increased investment in AI, Media, data and technology.
