From South Africa to Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya, dentsu’s Merkury is setting a new standard for data-driven, person-based marketing in Africa.
In an era where brands demand precision, authenticity, and scale, Merkury is emerging as a game-changer across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Initially launched in South Africa, the platform is now fully operational in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya, marking the continent’s most extensive and sophisticated identity and data platform rollout to date.
Launching from South Africa with a Vision
Merkury made its debut in South Africa as a revolutionary tool, harnessing over twenty million verified human identities and connecting more than forty-eight consumer touchpoints. By integrating offline, online, and privacy-compliant data sources, Merkury creates a single source of truth, enabling brands to engage consumers with unprecedented accuracy and relevance.
Dawn Rowlands, CEO of dentsu Africa, described the launch as the start of a new era for African brands. She highlighted how Merkury allows marketers to connect with real people rather than faceless data points, turning insights into actionable engagement.
Strategic collaboration with telecommunications giant Telkom unlocked vast consumer data and network reach, laying the foundation for Merkury’s expansion across the continent and empowering local marketers with tools previously unavailable anywhere in Africa.
Expanding Across Borders: Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya
Following its South African success, Merkury has rapidly expanded into Nigeria, operating from dentsu’s EMEA headquarters with Mastercard as its flagship client. The platform provides unparalleled access to over twenty-eight million verified Nigerian consumers across forty-eight touchpoints, making it the first in the country to offer such comprehensive person-based data.
This enables brands to target, personalise and optimise campaigns with precision and scale previously unattainable, representing a transformative milestone for the region’s advertising industry.
“With Merkury set to be fully operational in Nigeria, we are not just keeping pace with global marketing trends — we are setting the pace in the industry where AI, data science, and platform development play pivotal roles. This platform puts brands in direct touch with the people who matter most, delivering precision, authenticity, and measurable impact at scale. It’s the kind of innovation that turns data into growth,” said Emeka Chris Okeke, Group Executive Chairman and CEO, MediaFuse-Dentsu Nigeria.
Okeke noted that Merkury’s arrival in Nigeria represents a major leap in the country’s marketing communications industry. He noted that the platform’s person-based, privacy-compliant identity capabilities empower brands to create more relevant and effective campaigns, while respecting consumer trust. For him, this is the future of advertising — intelligent, connected, and impact-driven.
Merkury has also launched in Ghana and Kenya, powering campaigns for multiple clients and demonstrating dentsu’s commitment to embedding local insight alongside cutting-edge technology. Across all markets, the platform showcases dentsu’s unique capability: combining deep on-the-ground knowledge of African consumers with world-class data innovation.
Why Merkury Matters
In today’s fragmented media landscape, consumers interact with brands across myriad devices and channels. Traditional audience targeting fails to deliver the cohesive, personalised experiences that drive loyalty and engagement.
Merkury consolidates multiple identity signals into unified consumer profiles, enabling brands to craft hyper-personalised journeys that cut through the noise and create genuine connections. Crucially, it adheres to stringent privacy standards, ensuring that consumer data is handled responsibly and in full compliance with local regulations: a vital consideration in today’s increasingly regulated digital environment.
Across the continent, Merkury is not just a dentsu platform, it is reshaping the possibilities of marketing in Africa, giving brands access to insights and precision that no other solution can provide. By combining unparalleled local expertise, sophisticated technology and a commitment to responsible data use, dentsu is setting a new benchmark for the industry, and the ripple effects are only beginning.
