Top Management Shift at Saatchi

By Michael McCarthy





NEW YORK–Cordiant, which revealed a major restructuring plan only a week earlier, announced another surprising move last week, tapping outsider Kevin Roberts to succeed Ed Wax as chief executive officer of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide later this month.





Roberts has served on the client side his entire career, most recently with Lion Nathan, a beverage marketer, in New Zealand. He has also worked at Pepsi-Cola and Procter & Gamble.





‘It’s a great move; he’s a champion of creative,’ said Wax, 60, who will continue to serve as chairman through 1997 before becoming chairman emeritus.