Dentsu Inc : 2012: Taking on the Innovation Challenge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 4, 2012

2012: Taking on the Innovation Challenge -Tadashi Ishii, Dentsu President & CEO, Delivers His Message at the New Year's Back-to-Work Ceremony-

Dentsu Inc. (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004; President & CEO: Tadashi Ishii; Head Office: Tokyo; Capital: 58,967.1 million yen) held its annual New Year's Back-to-Work Ceremony today. President Ishii delivered his New Year's message from the Tokyo Head Office Building to the employees in Tokyo and other venues.
Following are highlights of his speech.
"As I look back on 2011, I am struck again by how many trials and tribulations, including the Great East Japan earthquake, were visited on the world in the course of the year. These and many other events created a strong sense that we were witnessing a major milestone or turning point in time. It is likely that 2011 will long remain in people's memories as a critical juncture in world history.
Although we faced a number of trials of our own during the past year, I also felt a genuine sense of the potential of the Dentsu Group which comes from the dynamism that our Group possesses as a global network. In solving the issues our clients face, our international network continues to produce synergy and results that transcend the limitations of any single country or company. Last December brought the extremely pleasing news from the United States that Dentsu McGarry Bowen had won Adweek magazine's U.S. Agency of the Year Award. Last year's events brought home to me the fact that we in the Dentsu Group are truly engaged in business on a global stage.
For the Dentsu Group, I believe that 2012 will be an important year that may have a decisive influence on the position of the Group in ten years' time. As we embark on what promises to be a watershed year, I am keenly aware of two key terms. These are identity and

innovation.

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The foundation of the Dentsu Group identity is the attitude that encapsulates the Dentsu DNA: a resolute, whole-hearted dedication to taking on the challenges at workplaces spiced up by an acute sense of professionalism. If all of the Dentsu Group's 20,000 employees embrace the Dentsu DNA when they meet each challenge, I strongly believe that the Dentsu Group will, as one big team, continue to provide services with incomparable value to our clients.
Alongside identity, the other key term to focus on is innovation. I believe the most crucial factor in achieving innovation is each individual's unshakeable will or, in other words, determination to change. True innovation is a discontinuous process, not a mere extension of conventional ideas or actions. Throughout the Dentsu Group, and in Dentsu in particular, which stands at its core, we must ourselves be able to break away from our own history of past successes and the fixed ways of thinking we developed during the 20th century if we are to achieve fresh innovation for Dentsu.
The Dentsu Group must take on two major challenges at the same time while continuing to provide ever greater value for our clients: to bolster our existing revenue base and to establish a new foundation for revenue going forward. This means we are facing the challenge of bringing about innovation in our business structure itself. As our clients' preferred partner, we will also need to establish new revenue models separate from the conventional advertising business.
The Japanese word kizuna, which means the bonds between people, symbolizes the sentiment in Japan today. I strongly believe that communication is the key to developing bonds. The role expected of the Dentsu Group, with our mission to strengthen bonds between people through the power of communication, will be larger than ever this year."
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Contact: Shusaku Kannan, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications Division Telephone: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

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