Dentsu Hires Jill Metcalf as Chief of Business Strategy and Transformation for Media in the Americas 

Dentsu International announced today the appointment of Jill Metcalf as chief of business strategy and transformation for Media in the Americas. In this role, Jill will focus on designing and implementing long-range, proactive initiatives across dentsu’s three leading media agencies (Carat, iProspect and dentsu X) and progress on-going transformation to deliver ‘what’s next’ for clients.  

Jill will be responsible for planning and driving the Media portfolio’s multiyear value proposition across the United States, Canada and Latin America for dentsu. She will help create new, sustainable business models, solutions and capabilities which accelerate growth for clients, partners, and employees. She will also play a critical role in crafting internal and go-to-market strategies around dentsu's future Media offering as well as M&A strategies to complement the capabilities of Carat, iProspect, and dentsu X in the region. Jill will report to Doug Rozen, CEO, dentsu Media, Americas and will also lead business planning and mobilization of Executive and Senior Leadership teams.  

Doug Rozen said of the appointment: “To deliver ‘what’s next’ is acknowledging that there is always a next, that transformation is never done. Jill has a proven track record for successfully evaluating and evolving agency business strategies, offerings, and operations to ensure success for both an agency, and more importantly, clients. She has ‘been there’ and ‘done that’ across many facets of our business—from leading change to leading clients—and is such a believer in radical collaboration to achieve the best result. With Jill, we will be better positioned to innovate and shape the next paths for growth for our clients, and for us.”  

Jill brings nearly 15 years of strategic and commercial leadership experience, driving highly effective cross-functional teams. She most recently served as SVP, client operations at WPP’s Essence Global, where she led business operations and had executive oversight of transformational clients including Airbnb, Clif Bar & Co, Discord, Clorox, Google, and Jiffy Lube. Prior to this, Metcalf was senior consultant of corporate strategy for Deloitte, where she counseled the firm through development and execution of business transformation plans and projects to align the firm’s organisation, priorities and strategy with client and business demands to support growth.  

Jill Metcalf said of her new role: “Too often, agencies sacrifice long term priorities for short term needs. In our fast-paced industry and amidst this dynamic market, the agencies that will excel are those thinking beyond the next year. Dentsu is at the forefront of this evolution, and I am excited to dig in on the next phase of its transformational journey and drive growth in media.” 

This news follows last month’s publication of the Forrester Wave: Global Media Management Services, Q3 2022 report, where dentsu was named a “Strong Performer,” receiving the highest rankings in both the Execution Roadmap and Performance Media criteria. The report states: “The group media company’s vision is to ‘get to next’ for its clients and itself by leveraging media and digital expertise. Its execution roadmap to achieve this vision is superior to those of others in this evaluation, with clear revenue targets for 2023/2024 and allocated budgets to achieve those targets." In her new role, Jill will ensure dentsu delivers on this roadmap by focusing on areas like M&A, long-range.