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, simply known as , stylized as dentsu, is a Japanese international advertising and public relations
joint stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...
headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is the largest
advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...
in Japan and the fifth largest advertising agency network in the world in terms of worldwide revenues. 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.


History

Dentsu was originally established as and by . In 1906, Telegraphic Service Co. became . 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 to Doumei 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 is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
,
Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...
, and
Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...
. 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 to Dentsu Inc. 1995 saw Dentsu creating five domestic regional subsidiaries. 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.


Initial public offering

Dentsu was listed on the
Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. The exchange is owned by Japan Exchange Group (JPX), a holding company that it also lists (), and operated by Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., a wholly owned sub ...
in 2001. During the
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
of Dentsu, in December 2001, a trader at UBS 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. Dentsu's sales are more than double its nearest competitor, Hakuhodo or ADK, in the
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese 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.


Geneon Entertainment

In July 2003, Dentsu acquired Pioneer LDC from
Pioneer Corporation , is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Tokyo, that specializes in digital entertainment products. The company was founded by Nozomu Matsumoto on January 1, 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and Loudspeaker, speaker repair shop. Its current pr ...
and renamed it to Geneon Entertainment, while its North American division, Pioneer Entertainment, was renamed to Geneon USA. On November 12, 2008, Dentsu announced that it was selling 80.1% of its ownership in Geneon to
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
's Universal Pictures International Entertainment (UPI), who planned to merge the company with its Universal Pictures Japan division to form a new company. The merger closed on February 1, 2009.


Aegis Group

On 12 July 2012, Dentsu agreed to acquire British-based Aegis Group plc in a cash deal worth $4.9 billion. The deal was completed in March 2013. Dentsu Aegis Network, managed all Aegis Media work and non-Japanese Dentsu operations worldwide. 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.


Dentsu Ventures

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. In May 2021, Dentsu Ventures Global Fund II was launched with a total capital of ten billion yen. Dentsu Ventures investments include Cheddar, Clear Labs, Exo, GRAIL,
Overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...
, OpenWeb, Survios, Twist Bioscience, Tynker, and Upside Foods.


Dentsu Anime Solutions

In July 2023, Dentsu announced that it had founded its own
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
business, Dentsu Anime Solutions, to boost its presence in the anime industry.


RCKT

In August 2023, it was announced Dentsu had acquired the
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
-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”.


GlobalMind

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.


Corporate affairs


Project categorization

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.


Dentsu Building

The Dentsu Building is a high-rise building in Shiodome, Minato,
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, 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 by Jean Nouvel, the French architect, and completed in 2002. It was built over the site of Tokyo's first railway station, and sits aside the Hamarikyu Gardens, formerly the site of a shōgun's vacation home.


Mount Fuji climbing tradition

Since 1925, Dentsu employees have had a company tradition of climbing
Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...
. 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.


Criticism


Working conditions

In August 2015, Dentsu was caught exceeding its own 70-hour monthly maximum overtime limit. In December, Matsuri Takahashi, a
University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...
graduate and 24-year-old female employee of Dentsu, committed suicide. The
Japanese government The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary state, containing forty- ...
recognized her suicide as
karoshi , which can be translated into "overwork death", is a Japanese language, Japanese term relating to occupation-related sudden death. The most common medical causes of karoshi deaths are myocardial infarction, heart attacks and strokes due to ...
, a Japanese term for death from overworking. In July 2017, the company was charged by Japanese authorities for the death of Takahashi. No individuals were charged, only the corporation. The company admitted allowing illegal levels of overtime and was convicted in October, paying ¥500,000 in fines. Mr. Tadashi Ishii, Representative Director and President & CEO, notified Dentsu on December 28, 2016 that he will resign as Representative Director and President & CEO. His papers were sent to the prosecutors office because of the violation of the Labor Standards Act. Over a half century of ongoing overworking was documented by ''The New York Times'', 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. 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.


Bribery charges and bid rigging

In 2022, a former executive at Dentsu was arrested on suspicion of receiving bribes from sponsors of the
2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
. In February 2023, Japan's competition regulator filed criminal complaints against six firms, including Dentsu, over alleged
bid rigging Bid rigging is a fraudulent scheme in a procurement action which enables companies to submit non-competitive bids. It can be performed by corrupt officials, by firms in an orchestrated act of collusion, or by officials and firms acting together. ...
of contracts for the games. 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. The corruption scandal has clouded the chance of landing the
2030 Winter Olympics The 2030 Winter Olympics (), officially known as the XXVI Olympic Winter Games 2030 () and branded as French Alps 2030 (), is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 1 to 17 February 2030 in the French Alps reg ...
by the city of
Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...
, an early favorite. 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. Its connections to the government are so tight that ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' referred to Dentsu as "the unofficial communications department of the governing Liberal Democratic Party", and it has also been likened to the CIA on account of its reach.


MLB management

Dentsu played a major role as a management company during Roki Sasaki's MLB team selection process that resulted in his signing with the Dodgers in 2025.


Dentsu Group companies


Affiliates and shareholdings

* Madhouse (minority shareholder) * Vernalossom Co., Ltd. (minority shareholder) *
Shibuya-AX Shibuya-AX (stylized as SHIBUYA- AX) was a concert hall in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, near the Yoyogi National Gymnasium. Layout Shibuya-AX was the only purpose-built concert hall or "live house" in the Tokyo metropolitan area that could accommod ...
(
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
) * TNC (5.1%, minority shareholder) * Video Research Ltd. (34.2%, leading shareholder)


Outside Japan

* Lords Group (
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
) * Collett, Dickenson, Pearce & Partners (40% shareholder)


Notes


References

; Notes ; Sources *
Annual Report 2015
''. Dentsu 2015.


Further reading

* * Kawashima, Nobuko. "Advertising agencies, media and consumer market: The changing quality of TV advertising in Japan." ''Media, Culture & Society'' 28#3 (2006): 393–410. * Moriarty, Sandra, et al. ''Advertising: Principles and practice'' (Pearson Australia, 2014), Australian perspectives * Sugiyama, Kotaro, and Tim Andree. ''The Dentsu Way: Secrets of Cross Switch Marketing from the World's Most Innovative Advertising Agency'' (2010) *


External links


Official website (corporate)Official website
{{Portal bar, Tokyo, Companies, Politics, Conservatism 2001 initial public offerings Advertising agencies of Japan Anime companies Anti-communist organizations in Japan Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Companies in the Nikkei 225 Conservative media in Japan Dentsu Aegis Network brands Japanese companies established in 1901 Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) Marketing companies established in 1901 Mass media companies of Japan Mass media in Tokyo Propaganda in Japan