Dentsu International appoints Fiona Johnston as chief client officer across the ANZ market

Dentsu International has today announced the appointment of Fiona Johnston as chief client officer of its media portfolio across the ANZ market, working in partnership as CEO Danny Bass’ second-in-command on the strategic direction and growth of the Carat, iProspect and dentsu X brands.

Johnston brings more than 20 years’ experience in digital media to dentsu, most recently as the global/EMEA chief growth officer for IPG Mediabrands, and formerly CEO of UM Australia, where she successfully repositioned and built the business over 4 years.

Johnston’s career has always been focused on building the best present and future for people, clients and partners, aligning her with dentsu’s focus on delivering never before solutions for clients that are good for people, good for business and good for society. In 2019, Johnston was awarded as a CEO Magazine’s ‘CEO of the Year’ finalist, securing 2nd place as CEO across all of the Australian market and industry, being also awarded first place in media. In her time leading UM, the business also won many awards and business such as Adnews Agency of the Year and the Australian Government account.

Says Danny Bass, CEO of of dentsu ANZ’s media group: “I have partnered with Fiona twice before in my career, at GroupM and IPG Mediabrands and I am excited to have her coming on board in this newly created role to help me drive denstu’s media group into the future.

“The media landscape is changing rapidly, and clients are increasingly looking for simplicity and Fiona is absolutely the best person to have by my side as we push dentsu into the never before and build the media partner of the future.”

Says Johnston: “I am excited to be joining dentsu right now. I have always been attracted to roles and places of evolution, and dentsu is in that space. It has been through a time of challenging activity and made the hard decisions it needs to make to be the best possible partner for clients in the coming years.

“There is an amazing community of talent in the dentsu business, at a unique and incredible time. I am delighted to partner Danny in this ambition, and help those teams build purpose and presence for ourselves and clients.”

Johnston will be joining the business from December 5.