Denstu Lab Appoints EMEA Leadership Team
Following the June 2024 announcement that Dentsu Lab Tokyo is to expand to form a global network of creative R&D Labs, dentsu today reveals Dentsu Lab’s EMEA leadership team; head of strategy, Ashley Knight; executive creative director, Pascal Rotteveel, and business director, Florian Root.
Joining from Media.Monks, where they led its Experience capability across EMEA and APAC, the team previously ran Jam3 Amsterdam EMEA , prior to its acquisition into Media.Monks in 2021. Based in Amsterdam, Ashley, Pascal and Florian will support Sven Huberts, president, global innovation and experience, dentsu, and president Dentsu Lab, and Naoki Tanaka, Dentsu Lab Tokyo lead and chief creative officer, Dentsu Lab.
"Dentsu Lab is an industry defining venture, which demands the energy, creative thinking and outlier perspective of the best talent ", said Sven. "I can think of no better team to establish and grow our footprint in EMEA: Highly collaborative, focussed on the bigger challenges of client business, with an outstanding track record of delivering transformative brand experiences and innovation work."
Dentsu Lab EMEA head of strategy Ashley Knight has extensive expertise shaping opportunities for global brands, such as the global launch and roll-out of adidas Confirmed, a community for curated drops and insider stories. She says, “The exponential change of new technologies creates pressure for businesses to react and innovate. At the same time, societal and cultural conditions demand that brands and businesses are deeply thoughtful and intentional when it comes to the products, services and communities they put into the world. Dentsu Lab demonstrates that positive impact and business success are not mutually exclusive, and I look forward to working with clients, partners and organisations to find new and exciting paths to drive society and business forward”.
Renowned for his creative versatility expressed in global projects like adidas Ozworld, a world-first AI avatar creation platform, and L’Oréal’s original digital make-up line, Dentsu Lab EMEA executive creative director Pascal Rotteveel has been tasked to push creative thinking and culture. He says, “Dentsu Lab has limitless potential to create and innovate at the intersection of technology, design and humanity in a wide variety of industries and contexts, which is exhilarating. Sven and Naoki’s motivation to solve complex challenges with human-first solutions, while tech-agnostic yet with profound technological capabilities, was an opportunity I couldn’t resist”.
With a track record of driving world-first partnerships and projects, such as the Pharma Grand Prix winning 'I Will Always Be Me' with Dell & Intel, Dentsu Lab EMEA business director Florian Root will be key to establishing and nurturing strategic client partnerships. He says, “Dentsu Lab’s approach enables brands to truly partner with us as a natural extension of their team, close enough to understand their business challenges, while able to provide a healthy outside perspective to break through barriers. Furthermore, our network of physical lab spaces across markets allows us to harness local culture, initiatives and institutions whilst also benefiting from global impact and reach”.
In addition to launching in Amsterdam, London and Warsaw, dentsu will be establishing new Labs in Mumbai and Bengaluru this year, with further global expansion planned. Dentsu Lab will benefit from the dentsu global network, with expanded opportunities possible through Dentsu Creative and dentsu’s CXM, Media and BX businesses. In addition, Dentsu Lab has access to the capabilities of Dentsu Creative’s Technical Delivery Centre of Excellence a team of engineers working across hubs in Japan, Brazil, India, Hungary, and Poland.
