TOKYO, JAPAN — McCann Worldgroup Japan has announced the strengthening of the leadership of two of its agency brands, McCann and Craft, with the hire of Takashi Aoki as the Representative Director, President of McCann Erickson Japan Inc. and Craft Worldwide Inc. effective October 01.
Takashi will report to Ji Watson, CEO of McCann Worldgroup Japan, and will work closely with the regional and global network to lead Japan teams in providing clients with meaningful solutions to grow their businesses.
He joins from his previous role as Managing Director of Media.Monks Tokyo, and is an experienced strategic thinker with over 20 years in marketing, branding, and customer experience. In the course of his career, Takashi has worked on a wide range of global and domestic brands including FMCG, luxury, cosmetics, tech platforms, automobile, tourism, pharmaceutics, and F&B, across management positions in Dentsu Y&R Tokyo, J. Walter Thompson Japan and J. Walter Thompson Shanghai, Publicis Groupe and Saatchi & Saatchi Tokyo. Under his leadership, his teams have won many awards including Campaign’s Agency of the Year for Creative Agency, New Business, and Production.
“I am delighted to welcome Takashi Aoki to our management team. His multi-market knowledge and expertise in leading cross-functional teams make him uniquely suited for this role. I very much look forward to working closely with him and our existing leadership team, accelerating our transformation to become the irrefutable leader in the business of creativity,” commented Ji.
“I am very excited to take on this role leading McCann and Craft in Japan. Both agencies have a unique presence in Japan, being part of a global network, as well as having a deep understanding of the Japanese market and a strong roster of clients. I look forward to continuing to develop creative and effective solutions that address the challenges our clients face in this rapidly changing world, working closely with the teams in Japan as well as the APAC regional and global teams,” shared Takashi.
