Adweek.com reports that the Japanese advertising agency group released a statement to reveal that it has moved to take itself out of Russia as the pressure increases on companies and brands to support economic sanctions upon the country to dissuade the continued attack on its neighbour.
“Dentsu stands unequivocally with Ukraine and the global community who are calling for the restoration of peace. In these unprecedented times, as a global business we will continue to prioritise the safety of our people and the needs of our clients,” read the statement which explained that it operated an affiliate partnership in Ukraine, employing 500 people.
In Russia the company has held a long-term partnership for over a quarter of a century and will transfer ownership to them to operate independently. The company declined to name the local partner. “We have not made this decision lightly as we have 1,500 people in Russia who have supported Dentsu and our clients over many years,” says the statement.
Its been three weeks since the invasion of Ukraine and and a number of advertising agencies and brands have exited the country, including Publicis, IPG, WPP, and Accenture.
A few days ago, Adage.com also reported comments on the war from Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the SXSW conference . He called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “massively destabilising world event”.
“It’s really tough to find the right words that really mean anything in a situation like this," he says. Meta has been working to keep its services up and running in the region so Ukrainians can continue using them.
While businesses and agencies are leaving Russia, they have to consider their employees in that country.
Thedrum.com reports that, in an address to staff, Publicis chief executive Arthur Sadoun said: “The 1,200 Publicis employees in Russia are our people too. Let me be clear: we have a duty to protect them too. And I was not prepared to abandon them with a short email and a few roubles in compensation. Those are not our values.”
