The M+C Saatchi Group is nixing its offline media buying capability and sunsetting its Bohemia media agency brand, B&T can reveal.
Now, M+C Saatchi Group will be focused purely on digital media in Australia through the expansion of the M+C Saatchi Performance business. M+C Saatchi Performance is currently headquartered in Singapore under the leadership of CEO Kabeer Chaudhary. Bobbie Gersbach, M+C Saatchi Performance’s global planning director, is Sydney-based.
M+C said the Group is investing Performance’s team, capabilities and technology to support its expansion globally, beginning with a focus on the UK, US, and other priority markets, including Southeast Asia. The first phase of this global expansion will see M+C Saatchi Performance accelerate its presence in Australia.
Graham described the change to B&T as a “strategic movement” for the Group from a “collection of specialist agencies” to a “group of connected specialists”.
Changing Channels, Clients, Consumers
“What we thought of once as our specialist capabilities on the fringe of the business are now at the core. It’s been a very deliberate move to do that,” he said.
“We’ve been in constant dialogue with the clients that we get to work with and the ones we’d love to work with in the future around what they need. What’s clear is they want to remove the friction, to have no siloes and to bring our digital media and data capabilities to the centre so they can be accessed through any solution.”
“Clients need clearer accountability, fewer siloes and they are looking for performance-led full funnel media solutions,” added Chaudhary.
“There’s been a huge change in the media landscape too. There is so much, what we call, ‘Intelligent Automation’ across buying and planning. At the same, commerce is integrated across every platform, every step of the way. The biggest one is attention scarcity. The funnel is becoming more blurred and clients are looking for agencies that can deliver on measurable outcomes as well as compelling creatives. That’s why it’s important for us go in as a group that breaks those siloes and delivers.”
M+C Saatchi (or M&C Saatchi as it was then) acquired Bohemia back in 2017. Then-M&C Saatchi Group CEO Jaimes Leggett said the acquisition was the “next step” in its evolution.
“With Bohemia in the family, we will have the capability to marry content with context for more influential communications. Driving creative probability through increased media precision.”
But now M+C has seen that clients, channels and, crucially, consumers have changed.
“Clients want something stickier than a generic media solution. They want something future-ready, powered by AI and working with the other specialisms. It’s looking at creativity, talent, sponsorship and all of that… It’s an evolving need,” said Chaudhary.
“It’s very clear for us that media is supposed to be digitally bought and that’s the service we want to provide and be future-ready. If you look at the Australian landscape, 70 per cent of all media bought is digital. We feel that in the next five or, maximum 10 years, all media will be digitally bought,” he added.
Existing Clients & Staff
Bohemia’s clients include the Australian Retirement Trust, Schneider Electric, Ryman Healthcare and Fever-Tree. Graham said there had been an “ongoing dialogue” with these clients about the changing nature of M+C’s media buying business.
“We’ve got some long-serving clients in there, some that have already transitioned to using that capabilities that have sat with Performance separately before we made this move. Some we’re moving through now,” he said.
He added that some existing clients were in-housing aspects of media buying and planning, a trend mirrored across the industry, and there were “separate conversations” happening with those businesses. Others, those with mainly offline media buying plans, were having different conversations again about how M+C could “support them in the long-term”.
“But on the whole, they’re excited about a more integrated offer. They’re used to the brand and the capabilities,” he added.
For Bohemia’s staff, Graham said that there will be “some roles” affected but there will be “new opportunities” created as a result of the change in the Australian market thanks to the expansion of M+C Saatchi Performance.
“This frictionless approach allows us to have more people on the ground herein Australia as well as being backed by leadership globally and more connected into the teams around the world… We’re working through those respectfully at the moment and there will be some impacts.”
M+C Saatchi Performance’s clients include IKEA, Soundcloud, SEGA and Grab.
Going To Market
In its FY24 results, M+C’s media revenue grew some 8 per cent, numbers it chalked up in large part to client wins and retentions in APAC. While the M+C Saatchi Performance has not previously been the main focus of the Group’s media buying in Australia, it has not been entirely distinct from operations in here.
“We’re [M+C Saatchi Performance] actually very globally integrated. In fact our global planning director [Bobbie Gersbach] is based in Sydney. Based on the clientele we have, we have limited staff in Australia but that will now expand. As the business expands, there will be further expansion in the market,” said Chaudhary.
“What we are trying to do is get our agency future-ready rather looking at the past to build capabilities or excellence around TV buying [for instance]. When the need arises, we partner with local offline agencies.”
When it comes to pitching, Graham said the change allows M+C to lean into its “indie roots” but it will still operate as the M+C Saatchi Group in Australia, despite the expanded remit of Performance and retiring of Bohemia.
“Performance is a brand with such heritage and equity that the door will continue to be open for brands that are looking for a specialist digital media agency. That will continue to happen more and more within this market,” he said.
In essence, Graham is promising more of the same for M+C Saatchi in its approach to clients, minus offline media buying.
Cultural Power & M+C’s Realignment
Change has been the order of the day for M+C Saatchi of late.
B&T revealed last month that APAC CEO Justin Graham announced he was departing and former Clemenger BBDO CEO Dani Bassil will be joining in August to serve as the M+C Saatchi ANZ CEO. A week prior, we revealed that Bohemia’s chief client officer Lisa McMillan moved to run the Federal Government’s Master Media Account at UM.
Paul Hutchison had become Bohemia’s CEO in November 2022, replacing founding CEO Brett Dawson, having been CEO of Wavemaker UK. He returned to the UK to become head of media at Mother in November last year. His departure is unrelated to this change.
“The strategy moving forward and the recent launch of how we believe enduring brands are going to be built through culture. This is a flow on from that,” said Graham, adding that Bohemia was the only standalone media brand within the M+C network making the brand’s retirement a natural change with its new Cultural Power proposition.
“The once-centralised power of traditional media institutions is eroding, as audiences gravitate toward creators, makers and the vibrant communities they inspire. In the face of the cultural shift, legacy marketing models, built for a bygone era, are faltering in the face of this disruption,” it said announcing the change in December.
“It’s investing in a big growth area within the business and it’s breaking down a silo that has existed within the business for a little while. I see this as a strong lever for how we’re going to grow moving forwards. It’s getting on the front foot,” added Graham.
“We’re leaning into a space where we have world-class capability that has been sitting there and centred within our region. We’re able to allow our clients to access it better than they have in the past.
“I see it as good news moving forward and certainly the clients that we’re talking to around are seeing this as good news and a step forward around what the connected specialism model starts to look like,” he added.
