Andy Flemming, the group creative director, is leaving M&C Saatchi.
The award-winning writer made the announcement in a tongue in cheek statement where he listed, and rejected, the usual excuses for leaving including "more time to spend with my family" and "the chance to pursue exciting opportunities elsewhere".
“To be honest, my GCD role was becoming unfeasible, and M&C Saatchi bent over backwards to make sure that redundancy was absolutely their last wish – going so far as to offer me other roles within the organisation," he says.
"But fifteen years is a ridiculously long time, and it seemed the right moment to take stock and peruse another adventure, wherever or whatever it is.
"M&C has been my home for a long time. It’s in great hands and it’ll be a little odd to watch their successes from the outside.”
He will leave at the end of the month.
Flemming started his advertising career in 1988 in London and worked for Chiat/Day Sydney, BSB Hong Kong, Bates CHI Singapore, George Patterson Melbourne and back to Sydney at M&C Saatchi.
His work includes Ricky Gervais and Idris Elba for Optus, Can Kids for CommBank and Matesong for Tourism Australia.
He helped build the CommBank ‘CAN’ brand with AdNews Hall of Fame inductee Tom McFarlane.
“Andy is a self-proclaimed sniper and I’d second that.” says M&C Saatchi CCO Cam Blackley.
“Whilst we’ll miss him in the day to day, he’ll only ever be a phone call away for special operations.
"In all seriousness, it was Andy that welcomed me into the agency, he’s been a rock.
"I described him as a ‘scholar and a gentleman’ to the agency earlier and that’s the truth. He leaves an unparalleled legacy. His Ricky Gervais work for Optus is one of the greatest pieces of modern advertising in my opinion.”
Tom McFarlane: “What can I say about Andy that he can’t say about himself far more eloquently. He’s everything a good writer should be.
"Witty, curious and a lover of words. I enjoyed nothing more than seeing him strut through my door, just hours after receiving a brief, loudly declaring - ‘I’ve cracked it… and it’s fucking brilliant!!’ And it nearly always was.
"On the occasion it wasn’t, he’d exit, unbruised by rejection and reappear a short while later, with an idea that was indeed, utterly brilliant. And it’s that resilience that makes Andy a truly great writer.”
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