Clients want fewer partners and greater accountability: Prerna Mehrotra

You've completed a decade at dentsu. How has the journey been?

It's been an incredible 10-year journey. dentsu has gone through significant transformation during this period, and I've seen tremendous opportunities emerge from that change. It has allowed me to grow professionally, take responsibility for different parts of the business, understand what it takes to run an organisation of size and scale, and partner closely with teams across markets to drive growth and client-centricity.

The industry itself has evolved dramatically. Every few years, new trends and buzzwords emerge, and today the conversation is centred around AI. Ultimately, it comes down to our ability to effectively adapt to changing market demands with agility and speed while helping clients grow.

AI has emerged as a transformative force across the industry. How do you view AI's evolving role? 

I see AI as a friend, not a threat. AI has existed in various forms for years, but what's interesting today is its ability to fine-tune results and how humans will drive disruption through AI. The future lies in the collaboration between humans and AI, where technology enhances creativity and decision-making rather than replacing it.

At dentsu, we are looking at how AI will drive efficiency and effectiveness. It's not just about doing things faster; it's about creating greater value. AI is helping us assess and rethink talent, culture, workflows, and the way we deliver outcomes for clients. It enables organisations to become smarter and more adaptive.

Rather than fearing AI, I see it as a positive force where technology and creativity come together to drive synergies and deliver value.

Can you share examples of how dentsu is implementing AI and delivering measurable impact?

We've developed several AI-led use cases over the past year while experimenting with AI. Citing three examples:

First, AI has helped us become more intelligent in understanding consumers. We've built a technology called ‘Consumer in a Pocket’, which puts consumer intelligence directly into the hands of our teams and clients. It leverages APIs to create a fit-for-purpose solution, it all about intelligence at scale.

The second, we've created an AI-powered content engine that helps clients produce creative assets at scale at a speed that drives both efficiency and effectiveness, using specific prompts. 

Third, we're using machine learning models to optimise programmatic and digital campaigns at a much faster pace. 

We're now seeing clients testing these solutions, some clients have been brave to take the first step forward and test it. As we built our use cases, we are seeing rapid adoption as clients look to adapt quickly.

Are clients still apprehensive about adopting AI trends quickly?

I wouldn't describe it as apprehension. The challenge is, I wish it could be faster than where we are today, and the convincing journey can be time consuming. As agencies, we can do a better job of accelerating client education to understand the opportunities. There's actually a great deal of openness toward AI today. Some clients naturally prefer not to be the first to experiment. Others who look at business outcomes, are eager to test and learn, and have seen significant uplifts in the work done using AI, especially in categories like BFSI and auto. 

With growing pressure on measurable outcomes and performance marketing, how do you balance short-term ROI with long-term brand building?

It's a critical question. I was in a panel discussion (at Cannes) where the CMO of a major beauty brand stated that 30% of their total budget is allocated in media, and this is a significant amount taking into account the scale of that business. 

Conversation with clients now focus around the consumer journey and the decision pathway to get to that measurable outcome. If a brand wants incremental growth, that growth is driven by a carefully planned consumer journey. Conversations around full-funnel effectiveness - creativity, commerce, media, content, and measurement - all play a role in driving outcomes.

Increasingly, clients are recognising that sustainable growth comes from balancing both. While some organisations remain focused on short-term metrics, many understand that strong brand equity provides a foundation that cannot be replaced. Brands that focus solely on short-term performance risk weakening their long-term competitiveness. 

The challenge often comes down to smaller budget allocation and internal pressures, but we're seeing more clients actively asking how to identify and justify investment in brand-building and top-funnel activities and where their spends should be targeted. The budget is spent on driving ROI, however when measurement and analytics is ingrained in a client organization, the chances of drive short term RoI and long-term brand salience are higher.

With emerging channels like CTV, retail media, and quick commerce, how do you address measurement challenges?

Everything starts with understanding the consumer, identifying them and targeting them where they can be reached most effectively.

CTV is a great example and we've seen successful use cases in markets like Australia. Clients who have concerns on the measurement front, we're able to bring those learnings into markets such as India and reapply these learnings to convince clients, set up a better measurement framework to understand the KPIs to measure and impact they are looking to generate.

The industry is moving beyond simple viewability toward measuring attention and engagement. We also work with partners like Lumen Research to understand attention metrics and attentive reach to drive response. 

How has dentsu Media performed over the last year?

It's been an exciting period. Growth has been driven by stronger client relationships and deeper integration with great focus on our existing clients. We've doubled down on building client trust, relevance, and understanding our clients' businesses so we can become the best growth partner.

As Chief Client Officer, I've been particularly focused on increasing dentsu’s share of wallet with existing clients while also winning new business. Our core business, media has returned to growth, driven by deeper and stronger client engagement. We've added retail and fashion brands such as Tapestry and Pandora across Asia Pacific, while successfully retaining long-standing partnerships like Heineken. India is one of our strongest growth markets in APAC with 140 clients in 2025.   In 2026, we've secured wins with Tata IPL, Hell Energy, Cream Bell, and ASICS. The Indian team is doing an exceptional job in driving media growth.

What do clients want from agency partners today?

Clients want fewer partners and greater accountability.

They are looking for partners with the ability to move fast, adapt to future challenges, and respond effectively to changing business needs. Technology is important, but it isn't the sole answer to solve problems. It must work hand-in-hand with creativity, commerce, social, and media to drive growth for the required outcome.

Today's clients are also more willing to experiment and take bold decisions. An agency that builds trust, is agile, hungry, consistent, and the ability to deliver outcomes is the agency of the future. Clients are invested in having deeper agency relationships and we have been and will continue to be an extension of their marketing teams.

What consumer and business sentiment are you seeing across Asia Pacific?

Clients are cautious and continue to invest carefully, prioritising channels that deliver the highest RoI, effectiveness and measurable outcomes. According to the latest ‘dentsu Global Ad Spend Forecasts report’, APAC is expected to deliver 5.9% advertising growth, making it one of the fastest-growing regions globally.

Asia is expected to contribute significantly by 60% to global GDP growth, with markets across Southeast Asia performing strongly. We're also seeing local and new brands emerge as strong competitors to global players.

India remains a major growth driver, supported by its scale, digital adoption, and 377 million strong and growing Gen Z population who are expected to drive growth. Categories such as technology, retail, finance, and travel continue to lead growth.

As a leader overseeing APAC, what emerging opportunities excite you most?

I take great pride in saying that dentsu is an Asia-born network. We have the unique advantage of leveraging the innovation and technological capabilities of Japan and bringing those strengths to markets across Asia Pacific in a structured and coherent manner.

Asia as a region demands constant disruption, innovation, cultural relevance, and speed while understanding the complexity and cultural local nuances while operating at scale.

Our focus is on thinking, deciding, and moving as one Asian business—leveraging the best of dentsu Japan's capabilities and applying them across the region to help our clients leapfrog growth and stay ahead of change.