As sports and entertainment increasingly overlap in consumers’ minds—and leagues such as Major League Baseball and Overtime Elite build more anime into their marketing—the creatives at dentsu are bringing it all into the same house.
Today at the Cannes Lions Festival of International Creativity, dentsu announced the international launch of dentsu Anime Solutions, the growth of its sports and entertainment hubs, and the expansion of its sports analytics product into the Middle East and North Africa. Yoshinobu Ise, dentsu’s deputy global chief strategy officer, will lead all of it as the new global head of sports and entertainment.
Ultimately, dentsu is looking to connect its sports and entertainment hubs in Japan, the U.K., the U.S., Middle East, North Africa, India, and North Asia and blend content and activation options across entertainment, sports, anime, gaming, and live events. With 1,200 dentsu industry experts serving 1,300 clients in 21 global markets, dentsu views this move as a reflection of what it’s seeing in industries and fandoms around the world.
“To succeed in the modern world and create business impact, brands must innovate to thrive with the algorithms which act as the gatekeepers of culture and commerce,” said Jean Lin, global president of global practices at dentsu. “Only when culture is seamlessly connected with commerce can brands achieve unparalleled relevance, driving business impact, sustainable outcomes, and accelerated growth.”
Starting an animated conversation
Dentsu Anime Solutions debuts in North America, China, and Southeast Asia markets, amid increased demand for licensing of anime outside of Japan. Dentsu Anime would sell and license anime programming and merchandising to broadcasters and streamers, while providing marketing support specific to each region.
According to Parrot Analytics—which provides the data behind the Association of Japanese Animations’ (AJA) Anime Industry Report—anime generated $19.8 billion in total global revenue in 2023, the last year for which complete data was available. That includes $5.5 billion from streaming and $14.3 billion from merchandising sales, with markets in North America and Asia accounting for 72% of that revenue. Roughly 6% of all global streaming revenue comes from anime, with Netflix spending $2 billion for its 38% stake in global anime streaming.
Dentsu quoted AJA’s projected anime industry revenue of $72.86 billion by 2032 when explaining its expansion into the category.
“By leveraging our extensive experience and networks, together with proprietary fan data, we are uniquely positioned to create culture-defining content that resonates deeply with audiences and drives significant commercial impact for our clients and partners,” Ise said.
Sports beyond the numbers
Dentsu has a sports marketing history stretching back to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and its dentsu Sports International (DSI) and MKTG brands operate in 17 offices around the world. DSI’s dentsu Sports Analytics (DSA) research, evaluation, and data branch, which only dates back to 2023, is now expanding into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The company has named Samah Raydan vice president of DSA in MENA and staked a position in Saudi Arabia as its investment in sports grows.
But dentsu wants to eventually connect that sports business to the film, music, entertainment, animation, and video game properties it’s cultivated since the 1980s. Much as it has helped move the Attack on Titan anime into Roblox and bring Angry Birds with Rovio, Flywheel Media, and Paramount Pictures for Angry Birds 3 in 2027, it sees similar potential for sports.
Dentsu has worked with John Cohen, producer of Despicable Me and The Angry Birds Movie, and PGA of America on an animated golf movie set in its own universe, showcasing the PGA Jr. League. With the silos between its sports and entertainment divisions down, dentsu sees even more opportunities for collaboration.
“There are few greater opportunities to build this connection than in the sports and entertainment sector, where culture-defining moments are evolving at the speed of fans,” Lin said.
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