DENTSU AEGIS NETWORK
DIGITAL REPORT 2020
Digital as a way of life
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
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Digital as a way of life
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D E N T S U A E G I S N E T W O R K A S I A PA C I F I C
Leo Liu, CTO, examines how Dentsu Aegis is helping its clients navigate their own digital transformation and prepare for a next-gen way of operating
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usiness in the digital era can be a dizzying experience: it’s fast-paced and exciting, yet sometimes the changes happen too
fast for some companies to build an adequate strategy to cope with them. Stepping in to help solve 04
these problems is multinational media company Dentsu Aegis Network, a global expert in multimedia marketing solutions and a go-to resource for those who require assistance navigating through a digital transformation. With principle services consisting of content creation, media planning, sports marketing, brand tracking and market analytics, the company is well-equipped to establish a brand firmly in the digital consciousness and keep it there. Joining the company in 2018, Leo brought with him a wealth of tech experience gained from previous positions at industry luminaries like Tesla and Cisco. “I’ve loved technology ever since I was young. I was fortunate to be part of some very innovative technology companies and witness the internet’s evolution over the past 20 years,” he says. “I’m intrigued by digital transformation and
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D E N T S U A E G I S N E T W O R K A S I A PA C I F I C
“ One thing I learned from great leaders like Elon Musk (Tesla) and John T. Chambers (Cisco) is that they have a vision, a higher purpose, to positively impact the world” 06
— Leo Liu, CTO, Dentsu Aegis
passionate to help companies with their digital transformation journey.” Dentsu Aegis Network was the first media network Leo has joined and he saw a great opportunity to be able to drive digital transformations for both the company and its clients (representing a diverse spread of industries, countries and markets). When it came time for Leo to formulate his approach to the CTO role, he relates that the leadership styles he’d worked under previously influenced him greatly. “One thing I learned from great leaders like Elon Musk (Tesla) and John T. Chambers (Cisco) is that they have a vision, a higher purpose to impact the world positively. It is important to have a vision which people can relate to and get excited about; a North Star to aim for,” he explains. Taking this philosophy into account, Leo implemented the Vision, Strategy, Execution framework to ensure his team is focused on achieving a long-term plan whilst making progress on execution daily. “Execution without strategy is aimless. Strategy without execution is useless.” Although being able to conjure the vision is half the battle, Leo
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of the people.” It is primarily a people-
choosing Dentsu Aegis Network to
centric philosophy, one which praises
drive digital transformation lies in the
the efforts of teams whilst also recog-
company’s diverse range of clients:
nising the value of individuals. However,
finding ways to optimise business
technology has an equally important
whilst maintaining its capacity for han-
part to play, particularly in light of the
dling a myriad of complex industries
recent disruptions to global work-
has made the company exceptionally
forces originating from the COVID-19
knowledgeable and unique. Guiding
(coronavirus) pandemic. “It is a very
each case is a star model that Leo calls
challenging time for everyone,” Leo
‘Vision, Structure, Process, Reward and
states. “I’m keeping my team focused
People’. Regarding this, he says, “My
and motivated to ensure our business
job is to establish the vision, optimise
continues while the world is locked
the structure, streamline the process,
down. We are also taking this as an
encourage with reward and take care
opportunity to accelerate digitalisation w w w.de ntsua e gi sne t wo rk .c om /s g /e
“CBC is our strategic partner in China in providing Dentsu Aegis Network with high quality internet network, cloud and managed ICT services.” — Leo Liu Chief Technology Officer Dentsu Aegis Network APAC
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“ Execution without strategy is aimless. Strategy without execution is useless” — Leo Liu, CTO, Dentsu Aegis
or Microsoft, Dentsu Aegis relies on its partners to provide critical expertise that enables the company to operate without disruption. Leo is enthusiastic about the integral role that CBC plays in Dentsu Aegis’ daily operations. “CBC is our strategic partner in China, providing Dentsu Aegis with high quality internet network, cloud and managed ICT services,” he
to make our business faster, better
states. “CBC is an agile partner which
and smarter.” With almost 15,000
is able to provide flexible, scalable
Dentsu Aegis Network staff working
network solutions which meet our ever-
remotely, a new paradigm is emerging,
changing needs and help us achieve
not just for the company but also for
business growth. CBC is able to quickly
its clients, who are looking to Dentsu
identify and understand our business
Aegis Network for digital leadership in
needs and has always provided us with
uncertain times.
innovative and cost-efficient solutions.
Far from being a task that Dentsu
On top of its all, the CBC team is profes-
Aegis Network can achieve on its
sional and customer focused. Dentsu
own, the company relies on a network
Aegis is looking forward to strengthen-
of close partners and suppliers to
ing its long-term partnership with CBC
ensure that it can deliver high-quality
as we continue to grow.”
work to its customers. In terms of what
Similarly, Leo singles out software
makes a great long-term collabora-
company Pulse Secure for special
tor for the company, Leo relies on the
praise: “They’ve provided the tech-
golden formula: domain knowledge,
nological means to allow our 15,000
communication and a trusting relation-
employees to access corporate
ship. Whether it is China Broadband
resources from any location, any device,
Communications (CBC), Pulse Secure
at any time. Pulse Secure’s ability to w w w.de ntsua e gi sne t wo rk .c om /s g /e
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HYBRID IT STARTS WITH ZERO TRUST secure access is essential
www.pulsesecure.net
grant this working model to our employ-
place to migrate and adopt. However,
ees is critical at this juncture; not only
Dentsu Aegis Network is staunchly
does it serve as a precautionary meas-
dedicated to the cloud strategy and
ure against infection, but also ensures
has made significant progress to over-
our business is operating as usual, with-
come the challenges. “Our multi-cloud
out any disruption to our customers.”
strategy assuredly improved our busi-
When asked his opinion on the
ness resilience in this uncertain time.”
significance of digital transformation
Similarly, for data and analytics, Leo
trends (cloud, data analytics, AI and
highlights how valuable the insights
IoT), Leo has a mixed response to their
granted by these innovations are to
contemporary application. In terms of
businesses in terms of understand-
cloud, he states that it is the requisite
ing their clients: “The ability to quickly,
foundation, although often a challenge
accurately and comprehensively
for companies with ‘legacy systems’ in
capture data for analysis, which in turn
allows us to make informed decisions, has absolutely improved our organisational efficiencies and effectiveness,”
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
Leo Liu
he explains. “We leverage omnidata
Title: CTO
intelligence to help analyse the custom-
Company: Dentsu Aegis
ers’ journey and consumer behaviour
Industry: Advertising
psychology to generate insights and
Location: Singapore
enhance the effectiveness of marketing campaigns for our clients.” Conversely, Leo considers AI (artificial intelligence) to be widely misunderstood and relatively undeveloped in most organisations. “Many people are scared of the word ‘automation’; to a lot of frontline staff, AI equates to losing their job.” Therefore, Leo views it as crucial that the development of AI goes hand-inhand with education and a mindset shift,
Leo built his first website back in 1996, while studying at U.C. Berkeley. During his career he has worked at WebEx; at Cisco first as Greater China VP, and later, China R&D Center GM; and Tesla as Head of Technology. He joined Dentsu Aegis Network to lead digital transformation and innovation as CTO in APAC in 2018.
which he anticipates will be increasingly important in the next five years. Despite 2020 shaping up to be an unprecedented year for everyone, Leo affirms that his team’s focus remains the same: accelerating digital transformation. Dentsu Aegis is currently leveraging the latest cloud-based technology and microservices into a service-oriented NextGen MarTech Platform. “This enables our clients to drive digital transformation with w w w.de ntsua e gi sne t wo rk .c om /s g /e
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D E N T S U A E G I S N E T W O R K A S I A PA C I F I C
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CO MPAN Y FACT S
• Dentsu Aegis in APAC serves 17 regional markets, 400 clients, 15,000 staff
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D E N T S U A E G I S N E T W O R K A S I A PA C I F I C
2013
Year founded
15,000 Number of employees
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the modern digital data and technol-
working couldn’t be better: with the
ogy,” Leo says. “All our clients are also
COVID-19 pandemic derailing many
undergoing digital transformation
preconceptions about the way people
within their own organisation and
work, learn and play. “We kick-started
industry, so having a platform that ena-
the PowerUp initiative to accelerate
bles them to quickly adapt to the latest
our digital transformation within the
consumer trends whilst maintaining
organization early this year. The aspi-
customer loyalty is very important in
rational goal is to digitalise at least 100
this new digital era. Companies need
workflows this year. In Q1, we identi-
to expeditiously adopt to the digital,
fied hundreds of excel/email/paper
interactive, virtual, networked and
workflows and the team has already
simulated new media world.” The time
digitalised more than 65 in a relatively
for transforming a business’ way of
short period of time.”
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“ Coronavirus will change how people work, play, learn, shop, social forever” — Leo Liu, CTO, Dentsu Aegis
Leo is confident that Dentsu Aegis Network can be a force for positive change in the new world. “I think how people live will change forever, both for our generation and for the generation to come,” he concludes. “Digitalisation is the new way of life. This year is the turning point of our digital transformation journey.”
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