Dentsu Creative names Paulo Fogaca US CEO
Former Gut exec marks latest C-suite hire after the holding company shifted to a global integrated leadership structure.
BigThink
Dentsu Creative has hired Paulo Fogaca, most recently Gut's global CEO and managing partner, to become its U.S. CEO.
Fogaca’s appointment, effective immediately, marks the most recent C-suite move within Dentsu Group after its shift to a global integrated leadership structure in September.
Dentsu Creative was formed this summer in a consolidation of DentsuMB, 360i and Isobar under that umbrella run by Global Chief Creative Officer Fred Levron. Denstu then brought on Pedro Perez as chief creative officer for Chicago and Rafael Rizuto as the chief creative officer for the U.S. and Hispanic LATAM. Fogaca fills the post left by Jon Dupuis, who was named to global clients president in October.
Dentsu's global integration this year resulted in Dentsu International Global CEO Wendy Clark making plans to leave the holding company. President and CEO Hiroshi Igarashi currently leads the combined global company, now known as Dentsu Group.
Despite the executive shuffles, Fogaca said he was drawn to Dentsu Creative during his recruiting process.
“As I was getting to know everyone, it was a no-brainer for me to understand that this is the next step for me,” he said. “I’ve worn pretty much every hat in this industry already, but this opportunity with the scale and breadth of capabilities and the people—it was just the best combination.”
Once settled among the agency teams and brand leaders, Fogaca will be charged with solidifying Dentsu’s strategy and U.S. positioning, using the experience he gained working across continents from a holding company to boutique and indie agencies.
Fogaca will report to both Levron and Dentsu Americas CEO and Chief Global Client Officer Jacki Kelley, who oversees all creative, media and customer experience management businesses for the company.
At Gut, Fogaca ran global agency operations across the agency’s five offices. In December 2021, he left Gut for a sabbatical to pursue personal time and projects. Before Gut, Fogaca was a lead architect and global chief operating officer at David.
During his more than 25 years in the industry, Fogaca was responsible for many hot creative campaigns including the “Google Home of the Whopper” activation. He also called a fragile truce between Burger King and McDonald’s with the “McWhopper” in partnership with YR New Zealand, unleashed Heinz’s “Wiener Stampede” on Super Bowl 50 and dropped Popeyes’ “That Look” fashion when Beyoncé’s remarkably similar clothing line sold out.
First on Forgaca’s to-do list is forging better collaboration between the creative and media teams at Dentsu. “When I see the group, it's not only on the creative vertical or CXM or media,” he said. “At Dentsu, there’s this fantastic chance of integration because that’s what Dentsu is about, and we can deliver everything in terms of those capabilities.”
