Saatchi & Saatchi is doubling down on its iconic \u2018Nothing Is Impossible\u2019 philosophy as the ad agency targets clients\u2019 \u201cunseen growth\u201d while it prepares to supercharge its next chapter. <\/p>\n
The Publicis Groupe-owned creative agency, which boasts a client roster of household names such as Arnotts, Toyota and \u00adNestle, is framing its future around helping companies to identify and unlock opportunities they don\u2019t yet know exist.<\/p>\n
It marks a deliberate shift in how the agency positions itself in an increasingly uncertain market. At a time when many organisations are focused on efficiency gains from AI, Saatchi & Saatchi is focusing on the combination of tech, data and creativity to create growth. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re an advertising agency. We\u2019re not cost accountants,\u201d chief executive Patrick Rowe told The Australian. \u201cOur job is to find growth. That\u2019s what we\u2019re here to do. That\u2019s new markets, new customers, new products, new ways of finding opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The agency is coming from a position of strength \u2013 Publicis Groupe continues to hold a leadership role globally and at a time when rival agencies are cutting staff and costs, Saatchi & Saatchi is moving in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are growing, not shrinking. We are hiring people in Melbourne and Sydney,\u201d Rowe said. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a point of difference for the agency and one it is leveraging to push its evolved positioning, which builds on the agency\u2019s longstanding \u2018Nothing Is Impossible\u2019 tagline, which Rowe describes as the agency\u2019s \u201cspiritual and historical core\u201d. However, he said, the agency was now evolving that ethos for the AI era.<\/p>\n
\u201cCreativity alone is not enough,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to build things around it to supercharge its impact. That\u2019s a role for technology, data and AI. Creativity is still extremely important, and obviously the core of what we do, but it\u2019s the environment we unleash it in that we\u2019ve really started to focus on.\u201d<\/p>\n
As businesses leap on the AI bandwagon, Saatchi & Saatchi\u2019s leadership team is focused on the outputs from the technology, not the tech itself. Chief strategy officer Leif Stromnes says this approach is crucial for the agency, and the broader industry. \u201cThe big thing we\u2019re jumping on is the \u00adcoalition of this optimistic mindset meeting the unlimited potential of AI. Rather than AI defining our business, we\u2019re defining what we want to use AI for.<\/p>\n
\u201cEfficiency is important and we\u2019re all playing an efficiency game. But we think the other side of the equation is the real unlock for AI. Marketing isn\u2019t in the business of cutting its way to growth. It\u2019s finding new growth where none is apparent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe growth that\u2019s apparent is easy, anyone can do that. We\u2019re interested in growth that is not \u00adapparent. That\u2019s this promise of unseen growth.\u201d <\/p>\n
Saatchi & Saatchi\u2019s strategy is underpinned by the data and tech capabilities of its parent company. A history of big tech investment has seen Publicis create a strong data and tech platform and the agency can leverage these services to move upstream within client businesses to help define the areas where value is trapped. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we sit back and wait until the client\u2019s clear about what they want, we\u2019ve kind of lost the battle,\u201d Rowe said. \u201cThe opportunity for us is to partner with clients. We\u2019re coming to them saying \u2018We see an opportunity here. Have you thought about doing this?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world is so disrupted right now,\u201d Stromnes said. \u201cI don\u2019t think our clients are confident that they\u2019ve got the right business problem to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saatchi & Saatchi\u2019s view is that the combination of data, tech and creativity is the key to unseen growth, but the layer of differentiation for the agency is the human capability interpreting the insights, driving the creativity and doing the work. <\/p>\n
Stromnes said: \u201cSelling ideas is a human business. Understanding the right idea to solve a problem is a human business. We will never be a synthetic company.\u201d<\/p>\n
That emphasis on humanity extends to the creative process, said chief creative officer Mandie van der Merwe, who argues that data-backed certainty can embolden more ambitious ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s liberating walking into a room and not saying \u2018Trust me, I\u2019m a creative. This is a fun idea,\u2019 \u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a smart idea that\u2019s going to unlock growth for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge for the agency is that this approach requires a different kind of client relationship than the traditional agency client mould. <\/p>\n
These relationships need to build on deeper access, greater transparency and increased collaboration, Rowe said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re asking for data and we\u2019re asking clients to share a lot more of their business to unlock that growth than they\u2019re typically used to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stromnes added: \u201cWe think that\u2019s a much bigger remit for a creative business \u2013 not to be waiting for a passive brief, but to be helping them find the brief.\u201d <\/p>\n
Danielle Long<\/a>Editor, The Growth Agenda<\/p>\n Danielle Long is the editor of The Growth Agenda. She joined The Australian in 2024 after two decades covering the marketing, media and advertising industry for specialist publications in Australia, Asia and the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saatchi & Saatchi is doubling down on its iconic \u2018Nothing Is Impossible\u2019 philosophy as the ad agency targets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":741332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[286002,357521,357531,357534,256,254,255,64,63,689,11387,11108,357537,357529,61601,357527,357542,357522,112213,353339,357540,357525,357520,357524,357530,357536,111715,30213,357526,647,677,357541,357535,357532,357539,357528,357538,344353,105,357523,357533,660],"class_list":["post-741331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-advertising-agency","tag-agency-client-mould","tag-agency-positions","tag-agency-targets-clients","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-chief-executive","tag-chief-strategy-officer","tag-client-businesses","tag-client-relationship","tag-client-roster","tag-co-chief-creative-officers","tag-creative-agency","tag-creative-business","tag-creative-process","tag-dani-bassil","tag-deliberate-shift","tag-efficiency-gains","tag-efficiency-game","tag-growth-agenda","tag-human-business","tag-justin-graham","tag-leadership-role","tag-leadership-team","tag-mandie-van-der-merwe","tag-melbourne","tag-oceania","tag-patrick-rowe","tag-rival-agencies","tag-saatchi-ampamp-saatchi-plc","tag-saatchi-ampampamp-saatchi-plc","tag-saatchi-chief-strategy","tag-tech-capabilities","tag-tech-investment","tag-technology","tag-traditional-agency-client","tag-unseen-growth","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=741331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/741332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=741331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=741331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}