Kevin Roberts cracks me up. I’m sorry, but boyfriend is too much. Every time I click on one of the thousands of YouTube videos featuring K-Rob something funny happens to my ears. What starts off as “The power of a brand is its lovemark and…” quietly turns into, “blah, blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah.” He’s like that 4 pm Friday lecture you signed up for freshman year of college. Maybe dude at the front of the room had something super fascinating to say, but who could be bothered?
In any case, here’s a tidbit that made me want to pay a bit more attention to the Saatchi CEO. Turns out that K-Rob is the USA Rugby board chairman. Jump back! How kind of cool is that? Kevin has been charged with bringing rugby into the cultural consciousness Stateside. The kick-off event will be a test match held in Denver next year. Back in 2006, he told BBC Sport that he was aiming for the USA to be playing at the 2011 World Cup. Sounds like he might get his wish.
You see, Roberts was once a rugby player himself. No, I’m not kidding. He played as a child in Lancashire and later served as the director of the New Zealand Rugby Union. Everyone’s got a passion and rugby happens to be his. I’m sure that’s where he learned to be such a team player. As Kevin said:
“Being part of a team has always been big in my life. In business I’ve always thought of myself as a coach, not a manager, and I’ve been able to take this attitude into every area of my life (my kids make sure of that!)”
You see, now that explains K-Rob’s fit over Tony Granger not giving Saatchi one year’s notice before quitting. Don’t you see? Kevin is a coach, a guru even just like Mister Miyagi and you don’t fuck with Mister Miyagi. You do what he says. Wax on. Wax off.