Dentsu has announced the global expansion of its Innovation Lab, founded in Tokyo a decade ago. 

The expansion will be led by Naoki Tanaka, who has been promoted to Chief Creative Officer, Dentsu Lab (and who will continue to lead the Tokyo Lab) and Sven Huberts, who has been elevated to the new post of President, Global Innovation & Experience at Dentsu and President, Dentsu Lab.  

Lab offices will be opening this year in London, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Mumbai and Bengaluru, with further expansion planned for 2025. 

The original lab was founded in 2014 by Dentsu Global Chief Creative Officer Yasuharu Sasaki to enhance human experiences.  Past work includes ‘All Players Welcome’ which uses technology to help those living with ALS tap their full creative potential.  

Dentsu stated that the new network of Labs will “work towards a shared mission to innovate human experiences that move people’s hearts, impact business, and improve society.” 

Leaders of each lab will be announced in the coming months, with a team of specialists working to bring a range of services to market. Areas of focus include Events, Sports, Gaming, Installations, Retail, New Products, Proposition Design, New Realities (AR, VR, MR), Data Visualization, AI, Mobile, IoT and Rapid Prototyping.   

The Labs will be fully integrated with each other and Dentsu’s offices.  

Dentsu showcased the expansion at Cannes last week as part of a presentation delivered by company President & Global CEO, Hiroshi Igarashi and Sasaki. 

The move follows the company’s expansion of its Business Transformation practice globally.