Dentsu Aegis Network appoints David Crawley as managing partner for Scotland

“Having met with Dave Lucas, managing partner of Dentsu Aegis North, it was immediately clear that being part of one of the world’s leading media companies juxtaposed to being handed responsibility for one of DAN’s key regional offices and to work with the great teams that make up its Carat and iProspect brands, would be too good an opportunity and challenge not to grasp,” Crawley told The Drum.

Asked what strengths he saw within the Scottish media sector, Crawley explained that he believed there to be a number of regional media brands being supported by “passionate professionals” but admitted that there had been “a significant increase” in Scottish clients moving their creative, media and digital accounts to London companies.

“This is a challenge, but for those clients who remain dedicated to investing in Scottish based agencies, I believe we not only able to offer these businesses all the benefits of working with agencies outside of Scotland but also an unrivalled level of local knowledge, account seniority and face to face time for clients. Convincing clients who have either moved their media accounts away from Scotland, or who are located outside Scotland but would benefit from the breadth of offer, expertise and scale we can deliver to help grow their businesses, is a high priority for me,” explained Crawley.

He also admitted that Scotland was playing catch up with English cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester over its use of digital large-format out-of-home (OOH) displays.

“That said, Forrest Media have not only been instrumental in leading the development of high quality, large format digital in Scotland but also challenging some of the draconian planning processes that is now undoubtedly benefiting the whole industry" he continued. "I believe 2015 is going to a watershed year for digital OOH in Scotland as Forrest continue to expand their large format portfolio, JC Decaux start to upgrade and develop their estate across Edinburgh as part of their new contract, Clear Channel develop their recently acquired 6 sheet estate across Glasgow and some of smaller media owners like Kong Media develop bespoke, high-profile town locations.”

Crawley concluded by stating that he hoped to see the company retain its Scottish Government and Framework Partner accounts, which are due for re-tender in the near future. He will also work with the senior leadership teams to help define and refine its strategic vision and aim to establish its digital credentials through iProspect.