A lot of new media leaders have taken the reins of their agencies since the start of the pandemic. So, Lauren Richards thought it would be a good idea to sit down with them to learn how they have been leading their companies through the uncertainty of the last three years, their plans for challenges to come and, quite simply, to help readers get to know the new faces of the industry in Canada. Read previous entries in the series here.
Given that Dentsu Canada anointed its top two media leaders during the pandemic, I have decided to break from my single leader focus and profile them both. Stephen Kiely and Sarah Thompson couldn’t have had more different trajectories or be more different people, likely making for a complimentary pairing at the helm of this Canadian multinational.
The other break from tradition was that I wasn’t actually able to “break bread” with them as I was conducting my last couple of interviews by video, having relocated south for a bit from the chilly Canadian winter.
If you are anything like me, you’ve always been a little confused at what goes on at the various brands under the mysterious Dentsu umbrella – or even that Dentsu was an umbrella to begin with. Thank goodness there has been a progression over the last few years to stream-line the brands from 16 to five, with Isobar, Vizeum and Aegis no longer in play. And the data stream of companies don’t reside under media. Dentsu (the holding co) now has three media brands: Carat (usually pronounced “car-at” or “cara” here in Canada, despite the correct pronunciation being “carrot,” according to the YouTube videos I’ve seen), Dentsu X and iProspect. Carat is the big brand in Canada, while Dentsu X is very strong in Asia and iProspect has evolved from a performance agency to a full-service media brand.
Kiely was promoted in April 2022 to the head of Dentsu Canada as CEO, overseeing media (the largest revenue generator), creative (which itself had a major consolidation of agency brands) and data/CXM. Thompson was hired as president of Dentsu Media in July after an extensive search process, reporting to Stephen.
Kiely has been a Dentsu “lifer,” starting in media before spending much of his 18 year career involved with and overseeing the company’s creative agencies. He’s effusive with praise and positivity and is known for being well liked by clients and staff.
Thompson has worked for several media and PR agencies, as well as in sales, and is known for being smart and strategic. Before Dentsu, she played the key strategic lead on the Rogers business as part of WPP’s dedicated agency Theo.
The pair have certainly hit the ground running. Since Thompson settled into her role last year, Carat has picked up new business with the likes of Vinted Marketplace, GoodLife Fitness and the just announced huge Telus media and digital innovation assignment.
I started off my chat by asking Kiely why he selected Thompson for this important leadership position.
“First and foremost Sarah has a brain unlike any other human being that I have ever met,” he said. “She sees around corners. Brilliantly. And [for] her passion for the craft.’
Thompson summarized her reasons for accepting the role as shared values, the belief in integrating creative and media and the “Dentsu for Good” agenda. Thompson has been a passionate industry advocate for promoting investment in sustainable and responsible media, expressed most often as supporting local news and media investment in Canada. Thompson was on the task force that helped the CMDC create its “Canadian Media Manifesto,” a rallying cry to reverse the course of spend from global digital monoliths to Canadian supported journalism.
Since the launch, Thompson has been one of the most outspoken CMDC member leaders about the cause and how the whole media content infrastructure is at great risk of further weakening and even completely crumbling if action isn’t taken. She has also backed it up at Dentsu, which has spearheaded research proving the value of investing in local media, creating a planning tool that prioritizes community-based insights and hosting a Canadian supplier summit across its offices to express this support more tangibly.
When I asked Thompson what her elevator pitch for Dentsu was, she said “we are about elevating the brand and actual pitch outcomes and, to be perfectly honest, everybody can say that. But in truth, it’s the day-to-day of how you empower your people, tying it to if you’re talking about CSR initiatives and sustainability and responsibility and communities that your media investment actually reflects as well.”‘
Both leaders are proud of their position of not having any perametres or “rules” about the need to be in the office.
“It’s based on client need and everybody is responsible for doing the right thing, versus us demanding it,” Thompson says. And after much debate about the choice between the two of us, goes on to say “we need to be open to where talent is and solve it with how we organize ourselves in a remote workforce of the future.”
I discussed the increased level of media pitches that started mid-way through the pandemic and continues today, with both leaders noting that it has been particularly demanding.
“There’s been a ton of pitch demands. I would say it’s wildly explosive in media, which has been absolutely on fire,” Kiely says. And when asked about the challenges of the process, Thompson expressed the frustration felt by many media people. “I would love for clients to really appreciate that there aren’t people waiting around, that we too operate with margin expectation, deliver shareholder value and we don’t just have people waiting [to work on a pitch].”
And finally, Kiely expressed his appreciation of the Japan-headquartered Dentsu’s values.
“The service spirit of Kaizen is alive and well in our operation, which is around continuous improvement – being 1% better every single day. The spirit of ‘omotenashi,’ which is a Japanese principle of treating people and workers like you would treat guests in your home. Those are things that we live and breathe and that are unique to us. I also think you know this better than me, this is a people business.”
As indeed I do believe it is, which I hope we don’t lose sight of in this world of lowest common cost denominators, programmatic decision making, chatbots, AR, XR, AI, the metaverse and global platform domination. At least it’s certainly nothing but interesting and challenging to try to do so!