In an effort to raise the advertising standards in Malaysia among advertising students and also share the expertise of Dentsu Group in Malaysia, a strategic partnership was sealed between Dentsu and the Faculty of Communications and Media Studies of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), the oldest higher education centre in Malaysia.

This working partnership with the faculty is part of a regional effort that has been executed over the past few years in ASEAN countries, namely in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines. Among the leading universities that have been assimilated into this programme are the University of Chulalongkorn, Thailand, Universitas Indonesia, Bandung Institute of Technology and Diponegoro University in Indonesia.

This effort enhances Dentsu’s commitment to corporate social responsibility with the aim of sharing knowledge, expertise and experiences of both the Dentsu offices.  This will be done by utilizing the company’s varied capabilities and intellectual assets to help build a solid foundation for the students in Malaysia.

The students will be exposed to the realities of the advertising world and learn about the creation of creative tools that are used to communicate the needs of the clients.

The Dentsu Group’s commitment was formalized by YBhg. Dato' Prof. Ir Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar, FASc, Vice Chancellor of UiTM and En. Omar Shaari, Chief Executive Officer of Dentsu Utama Sdn Bhd at a signing ceremony.

Commenting on the strategic partnership, En. Omar Shaari said, “With this partnership we will be able create new value for people and society through a wide variety of changes that will further enrich the lives of these students. This is a part of the good innovation philosophy that we uphold within Dentsu Group.”

“We believe with this collaboration we will be able to identify more students who are very much capable and have inquisitive minds to contribute to the development of the Malaysian Advertising Industry,” said En. Omar,

With this collaboration, Dentsu will be supportive of the activities executed by the Advertising students from the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies.  Among some of the initiatives are the UiTM’s AdFest and the much anticipated Ad Competition.
Besides supporting the activities organized by UiTM, Dentsu will spur the collaboration by implementing a few initiatives that will further make this programme a success.

YBhg. Dato' Prof. Ir Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar, FASc, Vice Chancellor of UiTM said, “This collaboration is very significant to us as it will have an Asian perspective to building world class brands which in the past was dominated by Western ways and approaches. Furthermore, it will give the students a fresh perspective to advertising.”

“As we embrace this strategic partnership, we highly regard this initiative as a ‘door’ that leads us to empowerment and the tremendous exposure and the expertise that our students will be benefit from.”

“We thank Dentsu Group for creating this opportunity for us and for sharing their immense expertise in the world of advertising.  We believe with the vast experience and the knowledge, we will be able to generate advertising students of high caliber who will be able to produce creative works of international standards,” said YBhg. Dato’ Prof. Ir Dr. Sahol.

Over 200 students from the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies will benefit from this collaboration, therefore paving the way to generate a creative and innovative work force that would produce great advertising.

‘In order for us to see the fruits of this programme and the development of the students, this partnership will be held over a two-year period. Based on the success of this collaboration, we may extend the duration further and also explore the possibility of developing similar partnerships with other advertising schools or universities,” concluded En. Omar.

Both Dentsu Utama and Dentsu Malaysia with a total staff force of over 150 personnel will spearhead this Dentsu collaboration in Malaysia.