McCarthy to lead Dentsu digital transformation assault

Dentsu Aegis Network is aiming to tap into the Covid-19-fuelled surge in digital transformation activity by creating a new technology team – dubbed Global Technology Alliances – and has promoted Merkle chief Nick McCarthy to lead the EMEA regional operation.

The unit has been established to bring all Dentsu Aegis Network’s technology expertise together with key partners, primarily Adobe, Salesforce and Google, to help clients get the best value from their technology investments.

The move comes as a new report by cloud platform Twilio claims that the coronavirus has been the digital accelerant of the decade, with UK firms reporting that the pandemic has accelerated their programmes by over five years.

TechUK deputy chief executive Anthony Walker recently told the BBC: “We’ve seen two years of digital transformation happening in the space of two weeks. A lot of business leaders we’ve been talking to, and survey data, shows that digital will be more important to their business, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.”

The industry group says that British firms, both large and small, have quickly woken up to the fact that digital is crucial to all parts of their business – including setting up ecommerce websites, improving marketing efforts and optimising production processes.

The new DAN team aims to create more integrated and scaled opportunities for their clients, helping them to deliver a “total customer experience” across all the interactions consumers have with brands. The unit comprises the sales and marketing teams, led by Margaret Wagner, who is EMEA chief growth officer for both Merkle and DAN’s CRM businesses.

McCarthy, who takes up the role of EMEA alliances director, has been senior vice-president of EMEA data solutions at Merkle since 2017. He has been briefed to develop an integrated business strategy to help clients drive further automation and multi-channel connectivity.

He started his career in data marketing at Acxiom in 2001, ultimately becoming customer data integration services team leader before joining Experian Integrated Marketing (previously ClarityBlue) as director of decision management in 2005.

The data division subsequently became part of BSkyB to form BSkyIQ, and McCarthy became information and decision sciences director, leading a team of nearly 100 staff across five separate sites. He was then appointed client development director, before taking on the role of head of data partnerships in September 2015.

McCarthy left in 2016 to become managing director EMEA at US cross-channel marketing technology specialist Signal, but he quit after six months due to changes at the company. Within weeks he had joined Merkle to head up its data operations in the EMEA region.

Wagner said: “With expertise in strategy, sales and delivery of data driven solutions, Nick brings a strong complement of skills to the EMEA Global Tech Alliances team. Our alignment with strategic technology partners is a fundamental to accelerating our growth through technology and is crucial to delivering profitable outcomes for our clients. Nick is a fantastic choice to lead these partnerships in our fast growing EMEA business.

McCarthy added: “Technology partners are a critical element in helping clients realise value from their investments in marketing, data and technology, powering the customer experience and driving business returns. I am excited to able to work to across Dentsu’s extensive EMEA expertise to deepen our alliance partnerships and broaden the value we provide for clients.”