Carat Says It Builds Brands. Dentsu Lost a Record ¥327.6 Billion.

Chrissie Hanson is dentsu's North America Media CEO and Global Brand President of Carat. Dentsu announced her on March 13, she started in August, and she came from running OMD USA, which Ad Age named 2025 US Media Agency of the Year. Her pitch for Carat fits in one line she gave Campaign: "We're in the business of building brands."

The context is the reason this hire matters. Dentsu posted a record ¥327.6 billion loss for 2025. That is the hole. Hanson spent four and a half months of garden leave with family, books and Japanese lessons. Dentsu is headquartered in Tokyo. Most American media bosses would have spent that time on the phone with clients. She spent it learning how her new owners talk.

The record says strategist. Carat London, Mediacom, Global Chief Strategy Officer at OMD Worldwide, a law degree from Durham, the IPA Excellence Diploma. In October Carat dropped "Designing for people" for "Difference Engineered", and planning and strategy moved to the top of the house with Bram Meuleman and Sarah Stringer. She also said something agencies rarely say: 5 to 15% of a typical plan is "dead reach," audience that was never going to matter.

Why it matters beyond one résumé: this has been the year of the fine print, with platforms shifting liability for ads nobody approved and buys sold as one thing and delivered as another. A media chief who reads contracts is worth more than one who reads decks. The open question is speed. Can a brand-first pitch win budgets while rivals sell automation and price? Watch for her first big account win and whether the waste she named shows up cut in client plans.