dentsu Appoints Ete Davies as EMEA Chief Operating Officer, Creative

Former ENGINE Creative CEO joins dentsu to drive creative operational excellence and scale the business across EMEA

Dentsu announces the appointment of Ete Davies, EMEA COO, creative. One of the industry’s most respected and effective leaders, he will report to EMEA & UK CEO, creative, James Morris. Ete will work with James to drive creative operational excellence, with the ambition to become the most diverse and integrated network in the region. 

Ete has transformed the businesses of some of the world’s best agencies, spurring growth, innovation and creativity, while building inclusive cultures. 

Ete said: “Many organisations talk about being ‘data-driven’, ‘tech-enabled’ and ‘ideas-led’. But very few have the genuine breadth and depth in their capabilities, moreover the clarity of vision, to effectively bring it all together through the most important element of all, brilliant people. Dentsu has all of this in abundance. The leadership team have so much depth in expertise, true integrity and a real ambition to make brilliant work and build something that’s industry-leading, from creativity and innovation, to RDEI (Race Diversity Equity & Inclusion), to how we help our clients grow and positively contribute to the world. The momentum at dentsu is palpable; it’s an exciting time to join.”

“We have a clear vision of what the future looks like, and the right leadership is essential to help us get there,” James Morris added. “Ete is an outstanding talent, who is as creative as he is commercial. We care about the same things and share the same values. I know we’re going to build something exceptional together with the team across EMEA.”

James has led the transformation of dentsu’s creative business across the UK and then EMEA for the last two years, bringing together some 2100 people in 29 markets and leading agencies including dentsuMB and isobar across the region including UK, Italy, France, Germany and Poland, Comunica +A in Spain, dentsuACHTUNG! in the Netherlands, Partners in Portugal and FoxP2 in South Africa, John Brown Media in UK, Dubai and South Africa and Gleam in the UK. Delivering award-winning brand, experience and content work for the likes of Orange, Gucci, KLM, American Express and Coca-Cola, Creative was dentsu EMEA’s fastest growth area in 2021. 

Ete was head of delivery at AKQA, and part of the team that lead its expansion into North America, Europe and Asia through clients such as Nike, Booking.com and BBC, before moving to AnalogFolk London as managing director. Here, he evolved the agency’s service offering, developed new products and services and spearheaded its expansion into Europe, delivering its most successful new business and creative era, culminating in several Agency of the Year accolades.

CEO of ENGINE Creative since 2019, Ete halted a three-year commercial decline, returning the agency to growth, while both restructuring the agency and launching new capabilities. He also presided over a period of culture-defining creativity. The ‘Long Live the Prince‘ campaign, in which murdered teenage football prodigy Kiyan Prince returned as a virtual playable professional in FIFA 21, garnered international press attention and won multiple awards. Davies left ENGINE in January ahead of its acquisition by Next 15.

Highly committed to driving greater equality in the industry and beyond, Ete sits on the advisory boards of several DEI initiatives including Creative Equals and Facebook’s Black Representation in Marketing (BRIM) programme, and is UK Chapter Chair of Black and Brilliant Advocacy Network. He is a She Says Who’s Your Momma and Bloom/WACL mentor. He was one of the original co-founders of WeAreStripes and is the co-founder of CultureHeroes, inclusion initiatives whose missions are to create opportunities for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic talent across the creative industries.

He features regularly on industry leagues and lists and has been named among Campaign’s Top 10 Trailblazers, Drum’s Digerati, PR Week Power Book and the BIMA 100.

Ete’s appointment is the latest in a raft of impressive senior hires by dentsu including global chief creative officer Fred Levron, global chief strategy officer Alex Hesz and Nnenna Ilomechina as global chief operating officer. In the UK, dentsuMB recently appointed its first chief production officer, Susie Innes, following Sue Higgs and Paul Cohen’s arrival as joint executive creative directors last year.