Saatchi & Saatchi has named Magnus Djaba to the newly-created position of global president, as global CEO Robert Senior prepares to step down to “pursue personal ambitions” after a three-month transition period. Senior has held his current role for two years and served as EMEA CEO for over seven before that.
Djaba will take on the additional responsibilities of global president in addition to his current role as U.K. CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon. In the new role, he will work closely with Saatchi & Saatchi global chair, CCO Kate Stanners, who replaced Pablo del Campo this past April, and global CSO David Hackworthy, who was promoted to his current role in July of 2015.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Robert for many years and would like to deeply thank him for the drive, dedication and determination he has brought to both Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis Communications,” Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun said in an internal statement. “Robert will preside over a three-month transition period, and then work directly with me as a special advisor for the rest of the year.”
He added that Djaba’s appointment was “first and foremost in recognition of the great results Magnus has driven for Saatchi & Saatchi London.”
Djaba has served in his current role as U.K. CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon since October of 2011. Before that he spent over eight and a half years as managing director of Fallon London, following six years in various roles with Ogilvy & Mather.
Here’s Sadoun’s statement in full:
Bonjour,
After writing to you about Leo Burnett earlier this week, I want to share some important news on Saatchi & Saatchi.
I’m very pleased to announce that Magnus Djaba has been named Global President of Saatchi & Saatchi. Magnus, in addition to this new global role, will also continue as CEO Saatchi & Saatchi London.
This appointment is first and foremost in recognition of the great results Magnus has driven for Saatchi & Saatchi London. He has led the agency since 2011, overseeing 50% growth by expanding and developing capabilities offered to existing clients and through transformational business wins such as EE, HSBC, Direct Line and of course ASDA only a few months ago – our biggest UK win for the Groupe. Saatchi & Saatchi London’s new business success in the last year alone means the agency ranked number one on Campaign’s 2016 New Business league table. All of these results have been achieved alongside a breakthrough creative performance with campaigns such as Deutsche Telekom’s Sea Hero Quest, and award wins at Cannes, Clios, D&AD and The One Show.
Magnus joined Saatchi & Saatchi from Fallon London where he was managing director, and it’s there that he and I first started working together back in 2007, when we partnered on the Orange account across Europe. His leadership qualities were evident even then and I’m confident he is the best possible person to lead the network to even greater things.
Robert Senior, Global CEO Saatchi & Saatchi and CEO Publicis Communications UK, has decided to leave the network to pursue some personal ambitions. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Robert for many years and would like to deeply thank him for the drive, dedication and determination he has brought to both Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis Communications. Robert will preside over a three-month transition period, and then work directly with me as a special advisor for the rest of the year.
Magnus will form a leadership team for Saatchi & Saatchi with Kate Stanners (Global Chair and CCO) and David Hackworthy (Global CSO). Together, they will continue to build on the network’s purpose and embody its spirit of ‘Nothing is Impossible’, both for their clients and their teams.
Justin Billingsley, as COO Publicis Communications in charge of Europe, will take on Robert’s Publicis Communications role in the UK and head up the UK leadership team.
As you know, ever since the creation of Publicis Communications one year ago, one of my top priorities has been to break the silos locally to accelerate integration, while strengthening each network’s unique culture, to attract and retain the best talent and clients. Now, we have 3 global presidents, Valérie Henaff for Publicis Worldwide, Rich Stoddart for Leo Burnett and of course Magnus for Saatchi & Saatchi. They will be directly responsible for leading three of our most iconic brand networks to new heights, through three key points of focus:
1. Global client transformation and growth.
Over the past year we have put our key clients at the core of our organization and reinvented the way we work with them. Now, through the leadership of our brand presidents, we need to accelerate on developing end-to-end platforms and seamless, integrated models for all of our clients.
2. Driving our new business efforts.
We had a great track record in 2016, with landmark wins like P&G dish care, GSK, Walmart, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, USAA and MillerCoors, among others. Accelerating on this dynamic in the months to come will be a top priority, both locally and globally.
3. Promoting creative excellence.
Creativity is at the heart of our business model. We have global CCOs who are responsible for perpetually raising the bar for our creative output and they will be able to count on the support of our brand presidents to achieve this.
We have a lot to accomplish this year but the signs of our future success were clear to see this week in New York, when we had our first Global ComEx meeting.
2017 will be full of challenges and great opportunities, so let’s start strong and get stronger, together.
Amitiés,
Arthur
Image: Saatchi & Saatchi