Word: ad
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Investors agreed. They flocked to place money with the brothers, who had earned a reputation for creativity and bareknuckle competitiveness in the genteel British ad market. The Saatchis went on a billion-dollar spree that sparked panic on then complacent Madison Avenue and helped fuel a merger frenzy as other agencies joined forces to stay in the game. Meanwhile the brothers bought and bought. Among the dozens of U.S. firms they scooped up were top names like Compton Communications (purchased in 1982 for $55 million), Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (1986, $75 million) and Backer & Spielvogel (1986, $100 million...
From 1982 to 1986, Saatchi & Saatchi revenues increased more than elevenfold, from $62 million to $697 million. In 1986, with the $450 million purchase of the Ted Bates agency, the brothers reached their avowed goal: Saatchi & Saatchi was the world's biggest ad firm. By last year, their client billings had reached $13.5 billion (runner-up Interpublic billed $8.4 billion), and the company had offices in 58 countries...
Until the brothers hit the apex of the ad world, no one questioned their claim to have a grand strategy that would turn their empire into a finely tuned global machine. But the first crack in that facade occurred in January 1986, just two months before the purchase of Bates, when longtime finance chief Martin Sorrell departed to start his own agency. Sorrell, who had grown restive as a Saatchi subordinate, has since assembled an agency group, WPP, with annual revenues of $1.2 billion. Close observers of Saatchi & Saatchi date the firm's financial drift from Sorrell's departure. Says...
...some cases, the global concept succeeded brilliantly. Typically, a worldwide Saatchi campaign is custom tailored to the styles and tastes of local markets, though sometimes only a translation of the ad copy is necessary. The parent firm's memorable campaign for British Airways, in which the island of Manhattan is seen coming in for a landing at London's Heathrow Airport, has run in 40 countries. Customers have liked the global idea: Saatchi agencies now represent more than 100 clients in five or more countries, including Fisher-Price toys and Allied-Lyons foods...
Revenues spiraled as the Saatchis bought up rival ad agencies, including Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, Backer & Spielvogel, and Ted Bates in 1986. But returns on the investments dropped sharply as management failed to meld the pieces into a smoothly run global company...