Tourism Australia – Come & Say G’Day, Animation – Short, GOLD
Steggles – Ugly Makes You Super, 2x GOLD
Tourism Australia – Come & Say G’Day, Branded Entertainment, GOLD
Tourism Australia – Come & Say G’Day, 1x SILVER, 2x BRONZE
Big W – Long-term Effects, GOLD; Brand Vaue, SILVER
Commbank Kit, Digital Branding, WOOD
Minderoo Plastic Forecast, PR & Digital/Social, GOLD & WOOD
Minderoo Plastic Forecast, PR, SILVER
M&C Saatchi Group notched up a solid 2023 with a string of client wins for various different scopes of work, including Dare Iced Coffee, Youi, Old El Paso, Asics, the NSW and Victorian Departments of Education, Australian Retirement Trust and Ryman Healthcare.
Of the group’s 100 clients, 23 were added in 2023 and only two clients left, Fantastic Furniture and Western Sydney University.
As the group now operates in a more integrated fashion, its B&T Agency Scorecard accounts for the sum of its parts, including M&C Saatchi, Re Worldwide, Bohemia, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, Yes Agency, Greenhouse Collective and its other divisions.
An example of this collaboration is that M&C Saatchi won joint pitches with media agency stablemate Bohemia for the Australian Retirement Trust and Ryman Healthcare.
The agency also added significant sparkle to its trophy cabinet by picking up a host of silverware for the exceptional “Come and Say G’Day” work for Tourism Australia, and a silver PR Lion for Minderoo’s “Plastic Forecast”.
In spite of the plaudits, M&C Saatchi’s partnership with Tourism Australia was placed under review late in the 2023 season.
The agency handles three of the biggest creative accounts in Australia: Woolies, CommBank and Optus, and has done so for six, 13 and 15 years, respectively.
What’s more, 80 per cent of M&C’s top clients increased their spend or added new service capabilities. At a time when clients are slashing budgets for off-field reasons, this increase in organic growth is impressive.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the M&C Saatchi roster, particularly with a series of leadership changes near the top amid a global restructure.
CEO Moray McLennan, having spent nearly 30 years with the agency, retired. Zillah Byng-Thorne took over as chair and acting global CEO, and set about reshuffling the changing room to be “future-fit and geared for growth”.
In the process, Australian CEO Justin Graham was handed the captain’s armband for APAC, while chief creative Cam Blackley departed after six years, substituted by Meta’s Steve Coll late in the season. The agency also made redundancies towards the end of the year.
M&C Saatchi Group is a female-dominant business (60 per cent of its workforce are women), but its median gender pay gap widened from 9.2 per cent to 15.9 per cent.
With a reshuffling of the leadership pack and the rise of junior talent internally, M&C has undertaken a series of initiatives to ensure it is in tiptop condition and performing at the highest level.
For instance, its flagship Open House DE&I and recruitment internship program entered its second year and has been “instrumental” in promoting diversity across the agency.
It also brought in equal parental leave for primary and secondary carers. As such, the AFR placed it fourth nationally in its Best Places to Work list.
“In 2023, M&C Saatchi Group continued its transformation into a future-fit creative solutions company to meet the evolving needs of our clients. Key leadership changes included promoting Justin Graham to APAC CEO and welcoming Steve Coll as Chief Creative Officer. We expanded our capabilities and connected others.
During this period of change, we onboarded 23 new clients across creative, media, passions & PR, and consultancy services, Additionally, 80 per cent of our top clients increased their revenue or added new capabilities. We strengthened brand-value for CommBank, Woolworths and Big W. Our “Come & Say G’day” campaign for Tourism Australia achieved global acclaim. We continued to create meaningful impact through campaigns such as Plastic Forecast, Uncloud (anti-vaping) and the Forever Reef Project.
Our transformations have set us up for a more diverse and dynamic offering, providing our clients with a significant advantage in a rapidly changing environment.“
“Our ECD is a fearless femme, who smashes glass ceilings, drives impact on the field, and leads with heart and integrity in a tough league”
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