Dentsu has announced the promotion of John Riccio, Merkle ANZ CEO, to Asia Pacific as president, Merkle APAC.
Merkle is dentsu’s technology-enabled, data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company with over 2,000 experts in 10 markets in the region.
Riccio’s new position comes just over two months into his role as Merkle ANZ CEO which was made effective in February this year following the announcement in December.
The newly appointed Merkle APAC president has more than 25 years of experience in leading major digital businesses and strategic programs. He is recognised as a specialist in helping clients transform the way they respond to market change and engage consumers.
Riccio is an expert at leveraging emerging technologies that support sustainable growth and scale, and he will play a critical role in leading the growth and evolution of Merkle APAC while continuing his current role as CEO of Merkle’s ANZ region.
Riccio also has an extensive background in leading customer experience consulting, recently as an experience consulting partner, APAC, for EY. In the past, he has held partner positions at PwC in Australia and Asia, and at IBM in the United Kingdom.
Riccio said of his appointment: “Since joining Merkle, I have been impressed by the forward-thinking, agile approach the company takes in the experiences delivered to its clients and employees.
“I am excited to expand my ANZ role across the APAC region, empowering brands to create distinctly better experiences and relationships with their customers across all key technology platforms.”
Angela Tangas, CEO dentsu ANZ said: “As we strive to deliver total experience v outcomes for clients and partners as the most integrated marketing services company in ANZ, a core tenant of our growth strategy is building Merkle as ANZ’s leading customer transformation partner.
“John is well placed to drive our ambitious growth through this expanded remit – a win for us, our clients, partners, and the broader APAC community,” she added.
Michael Komasinski, global CEO, Merkle, said: “John’s appointment is further proof of dentsu’s commitment to accelerating the growth and performance of our customer experience consulting, data, digital transformation, and B2B services across the region.”
See also: dentsu ANZ announces the appointment of John Riccio as Merkle CEO