Saatchi and Saatchi
From Free net encyclopedia
Saatchi & Saatchi is an advertising agency founded by brothers Maurice (now Lord Saatchi) and art collector Charles, most famous for their campaign on behalf of the Conservative Party before the 1979 UK general election and for the adverts for British Airways and other state-owned interests privatised by the Conservatives in the 1980s.
After working for other advertising firms, the two brothers established their own company in 1976. With the support of American investors, Saatchi & Saatchi pursued a policy of buying out competing firms with lucrative established contracts. In 1990, a boardroom coup saw the brothers leave the company and set up a new firm M&C Saatchi.
Saatchi & Saatchi's holding company is Publicis. Saatchi's worldwide CEO is Kevin Roberts. Saatchi & Saatchi has offices in over 80 countries around the world. Its worldwide headquarters are on Hudson Street in New York City. Its other main office in the United States is located in Torrance, California. In the US, Saatchi's largest clients are Toyota, Procter & Gamble and General Mills.
The London office, the home of the original agency, is on Charlotte Street and has its own pub, named "the pregnant man" after the firm's first famous ad. They also have an office in Tokyo that was started by Graham Thomas.
Saatchi & Saatchi entered a new phase in 1997 when it officially dropped "advertising" from the name. Under the direction of its new CEO, Kevin Roberts, the agency sought to be known as an "ideas company". It was this philosophy that gave rise to the "Lovemarks" philosophy - a theory that is premised on the concept that 'brands are dead'. "Lovemarks" has been the driving force for many of Saatchi's global clients, which include over 50 of Brandweek's Top 100 Brands in Advertising. Across its 189 offices, Saatchi & Saatchi works with the likes of VISA, Sony, Lexus, Guinness, Hewlett-Packard and others to promote the "Lovemarks" philosophy.