Merkle MENA Centralizes Five CXM Practices Under Single Leadership

Merkle MENA has promoted Deepak Mankani to Head of Integrated CXM Strategy, consolidating oversight of analytics, CRM, experience design, search, and generative AI adaptation under a single leadership role. The appointment, announced in May 2025, signals a deliberate shift by the Dentsu-owned agency toward unified customer experience management rather than siloed discipline-by-discipline delivery.

Unified Leadership Across Five Practice Areas

Mankani previously led Merkle MENA's Search Experience and GenAI practice. His expanded mandate brings five capability areas under one strategic framework, replacing what had been separate practice heads managing individual disciplines.

"Deepak has consistently demonstrated the ability to translate emerging capabilities into real business value for clients," said Andreas Skopal, CEO of Merkle MENA. "Expanding his role is a natural next step as we continue to evolve our integrated CXM offering and build more future-ready solutions for the market."

Mankani's remit also includes establishing a scalable Center of Excellence model in collaboration with Merkle's EMEA network. The CoE structure is designed to standardize capability delivery across markets while allowing for regional customization.

"The customer journey is becoming increasingly interconnected, shaped by rapidly evolving technologies, platforms, and consumer expectations," Mankani said. "This role is an opportunity to bring together our capabilities in a more integrated way, helping clients navigate complexity while creating experiences that are both meaningful and commercially impactful."

Part of a Broader Dentsu Network Pattern

The Merkle MENA appointment mirrors structural moves underway across the Dentsu network in the Asia-Pacific region. In January 2025, Dentsu Singapore appointed Rahul Thappa as Managing Director of CXM and Media, combining two previously separate practice lines under unified leadership. Dentsu Singapore had been the first market in the global network to integrate Creative, CXM, and Media under a single leadership structure back in 2020.

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The pattern reflects a holding company-wide push to reduce structural complexity at a critical financial moment. Dentsu reported a record JPY 328 billion loss in its most recent full-year results, suspended dividends for 2025 and 2026, and announced a JPY 52 billion (~US$338 million) restructuring program that cut 2,100 roles in 2025 with 1,300 more planned. The company has halved its international legal entities from over 1,000 to approximately 500 since 2021. Takeshi Sano was appointed as the new global CEO amid the restructuring, with the Merkle and CXM businesses positioned as core growth drivers.

Regional Expansion Continues Alongside Structural Change

Despite the parent company's financial headwinds, Merkle MENA has maintained an active regional expansion track. The agency launched operations in Saudi Arabia with two new offices and extended the Merkle brand into Southeast Asia through the Thailand launch in 2024. A partnership with Sprinklr was also established to support CX delivery across MENA markets.

Skopal was named to Campaign Middle East's MENA Power List 2025 with a mandate to position Merkle MENA as a leading integrated experience consultancy combining experience design, commerce, AI, data, analytics, and SEO.

The appointments follow a client-side trend toward integrated CXM structures. IAG Australia restructured its marketing leadership in 2025, consolidating four senior roles into three organized around customer journey accountability rather than channel-based management. The APAC customer experience management market reached US$5.07 billion in 2025, representing 22.7% of global CXM spend, and is projected to grow at a 15.28% compound annual rate through 2035.