COMPANY

Carat

Carat is a global dentsu-owned media agency for enterprise advertisers.

Analyst Perspective

Carat is a global media and marketing agency brand within dentsu that provides managed services for media planning, media buying, audience strategy, partnership design and marketing transformation. Its core customers are enterprise brands and large advertisers that need multi-market campaign execution, audience insight and centralised media stewardship across digital and other channels. The business makes money primarily through agency fees, retainers, project work and commissions or spend-linked compensation tied to media planning and buying. Carat’s value proposition is its combination of global operating scale, access to dentsu capabilities, and data-informed audience and effectiveness services for brands running complex international marketing programmes.

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Category Differentiation

Carat is a media agency brand within dentsu, not a gemstone grading or jewellery business. It should be understood as an enterprise marketing services network rather than a standalone adtech software vendor.

Carat: About

Carat operates a managed-service agency model. It advises large advertisers on where and how to deploy media budgets, plans and executes campaigns across channels, structures strategic partnerships, and uses audience and measurement capabilities to improve outcomes. Value is created through media expertise, cross-market coordination, data-informed planning and access to the broader dentsu network, while revenue is captured through retainers, project fees, consulting fees and media-spend-linked compensation.

How Carat Works & Monetises

Business model analysis and core revenue streams

Carat’s monetisation is centred on managed-service agency revenue: recurring client retainers, project-based consulting fees, and percentage-based or commission-style compensation linked to media spend. Additional revenue likely comes from strategic planning, audience insight, effectiveness measurement and bundled dentsu services delivered alongside core media buying and planning.

Revenue Channels

Media planning and buying servicesService retainers and spend-linked compensation
Strategic consulting and partnership designProject fee and retainer
Audience insight and data-driven strategyService fee / retainer
Measurement and effectiveness workConsulting fee
Bundled dentsu cross-service engagementsIntegrated service contract

Side-by-Side Comparisons

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Carat: Key Competitors & Alternatives

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Recent Signals (Carat)

https://martechseries.com/feed/Jun 23, 2026

Dentsu Expands Partnership with Newton Research

Newton Research and dentsu have expanded their partnership to scale AI-powered media intelligence across dentsu’s U.S. media agencies — Carat, dentsu X, and iProspect — following a successful 2025 pilot. The collaboration gives dentsu access to Newton’s agentic AI for enhanced analytics, AI-driven reporting, real-time campaign visibility, and workflow integration with dentsu’s proprietary offerings such as Modern Media and dentsu.Connect. Newton’s agents will support planning, activation, and measurement across omni-channel formats while surfacing optimization opportunities and AI-generated recommendations that are executed with human oversight. dentsu plans to extend the partnership globally. Executives quoted include Caitlin Gelles (EVP Data Technology & Measurement at dentsu), John Hoctor (CEO & co-founder, Newton Research) and Emily Kennedy (EVP Head of Marketplace at dentsu). The announcement was published June 23, 2026.

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HorizontJun 23, 2026

Nine‑time Effie Winner Joins Carat Leadership

Carat has created a new management role, Integrated Client Lead (ICL), to establish a strategic function beyond classic client responsibility and advisory. The ICL position sits in Carat's executive team; the role is being filled by a brand specialist who previously made a name working for Omnicom agencies. Carat is described as the media network of the Japanese holding Dentsu. The report was published by Horizont on 2026-06-23 and authored by Marco Saal.

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MeediaJun 22, 2026

Carat Appoints Jennifer Barthe as Integrated Client Lead

Carat, the dentsu-owned media agency, has appointed Jennifer Barthe as a managing director in a newly created Integrated Client Lead (ICL) role. Effective immediately, the ICL is presented as a strategic function intended to drive integrated consulting across media, creative, customer experience, data and technology. Barthe brings more than 16 years of international experience across strategy, growth and client leadership at network and creative agencies (including adam&eveDDB, We are Social and Shipyard) and has won nine Effie Awards. Dentsu Germany CEO Katja Anette Brandt framed the role as a way to align media, creative and CX from idea to measurable business impact. Carat says it has about 10,000 employees in 120 offices across 51 markets and lists clients including General Motors, Heineken, Kraft Heinz, Kellogg's, MasterCard, Vodafone, Ikea, Microsoft and P&G.

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Carat: Frequently Asked Questions

What is Carat?

Carat is a global media and marketing agency within dentsu that provides media planning, buying, audience strategy and related consulting services for large brands.

Who uses Carat?

Carat is used by enterprise brands, multinational advertisers and senior marketing teams that need cross-market media strategy and campaign execution.

How does Carat make money?

Carat makes money through agency retainers, project fees, consulting work and compensation linked to the media budgets it plans and manages.

Company Facts

Headquarters
Regent’s Place, 10 Triton Street, London, NW1 3BF, United Kingdom
Core Segment
Agency & Consultancy
Company Size
>5,000
Official Link
carat.com