• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, December 8, 2016

Dentsu Inc. reported this week that net sales for its Japanese operations fell 6.1% in November. 

The decline comes as the company is dealing with two scandals including a probe by the Japanese government looking into the firm’s labor practices in Japan in the wake of a suicide that the government has linked to excessive overtime put in by the deceased Dentsu employee. 

Also, the Tokyo-based holding company acknowledged in September that it overcharged a number of clients including Toyota for media buying services. The company has launched an internal investigation into the matter. Both the pricing and workforce problems are limited to Japanese operations so far, the company has said. 

The biggest net sales decline in November occurred within the firm’s marketing/promotion sector, which was down about 44% versus November 2015. A Dentsu rep stated that the “factors contributing to the decline in Marketing/Promotion can be attributed to the absence of large projects such as Tokyo Motor Show 2015, however the figure still remained above the company’s planned budget.” 

TV sales were down about 1% while digital was up nearly 14%. Magazines dropped about 12% while OOH was up 3%.