Anita Zanesco and Dani Bassil.
Internal meetings lately at M+C Saatchi have taken on a new characteristic: those at the table are mostly women.
The new ANZ CEO, Dani Bassil, who took over from Justin Graham, has been hiring on the philosophy of getting the best people and letting them get on with it.
M+C Saatchi has rebuilt its leadership across its Australian business, following a series of account losses so significant that the UK-based parent company blamed it for overall poor results.
The plan? To take some of the strongest industry leaders into M+C, create good work for clients in an ever-growing pitch market and create a pipeline to build revenue.
Group CEO Dani Bassil, Group CMO Anita Zanesco, Group CSO Simon Wassef, Group CCO Emma Robbins, managing partner Rhian Mason, national ECD Jeremy Hogg, client experience director Topher Jones and client partner Louise Rutherford, have all joined shop in Australia in 2025.
Managing director Tanya Vragalis and M+C Saatchi Consulting and Re. managing director Ben Harrison are also part of the leadership team.
It is also the first time M+C has had a female-dominated leadership team, something still seen as uncommon in the creative agency world.
Bassil told AdNews that the appointments of women wasn't intentional but for those looking in, this proves these roles are available to women in the industry.
“We’re spending a lot of time in meeting rooms, having strategic conversations, and it's all women. I don't think I've ever had that in my whole career,” Bassil said.
“The first time I became CEO at a different agency that had traditionally been very male dominated, we had an agency announcement.
“I got off the stage, and there was a queue of three or four women all wanting to congratulate me, because the agencies never had a female CEO, and it's nice for them to understand that there's a clear road for them too one day."
Bassil said that part of a strong team is ensuring diversity across gender, race and age.
“Having female leadership is as important as having male leadership, because women need to know that these roles are an option for them in their careers," Bassil said.
“(In this country), you could count the female chief creative officers on your hands, which in this day and age, is not good enough.
“Women also spend a lot of money; they've got buying power. So strategically and creatively, having senior women is important, because we're talking to women all the time by virtue of what we do.
“And diverse thinking comes from diverse people. We’ve got a good diverse group of people at M+C, ethnically and from a gender perspective.”
She has a big job reviving the local operation. M+C Saatchi pointed to Australia’s "poor performance" and drag on the global advertising group's operations when it reported negative revenue and falling profit for the half year to June.
Like-for-like net revenue was down 5.1% to GBP 103.8 million for the half year to June. Operating profit fell 36% to GBP 10.3 million.
Bassil said that it’s "business as usual" for operations in ANZ, as the new leadership team aims to produce the "best work" for clients.
“We obviously know that we need to grow. But if you look at some of the work that's been coming out of the agency, from Commonwealth Bank, on Australian Retirement Trust, Woolworths, there’s a lot of good work being produced,” Bassil said.
“Agencies go up and down, we've all seen it before, and we've already got some fantastic things going on. The future is bright for us.
“We don't make cars or paperclips; our product is our people.
“What’s really telling about this agency is that we've had some very senior roles out in market and we're getting some of the best talent in the industry in this market.
“From a growth perspective, clients want what they see out in the world.
“As long as we focus on the work, I think growth will come.”
M+C’s remit has grown from creative services to spanning PR, influencer, social, consulting, design and brand experience.
And the company has also incorporated 21 AI tools into its arsenal.
M+C Saatchi chief marketing officer Anita Zanesco said clients are now asking for multiple capabilities in one contract.
“With clients, it's no longer a traditional media market. It's how you connect brands and culture. Clients are asking for more than the norm,” Zanesco said.
"They're asking for agencies to do a suite of capabilities, and we're building those capabilities to make sure that we can deliver what they need in multiple channels.
“Chemistry can also win a pitch because clients are buying the people they're going to pick up the phone to if there's a problem or a challenge.”
Bassil said that budgets are smaller, but competition is higher.
“Clients need more for less from agencies. Budgets are smaller, the heat is certainly on,” she said.
“From an economic perspective, AI is big concern for clients, and how they navigate that.”
“For us, it’s about how we help our clients grow, how we can unlock new audiences for them and make sure that creatively and strategically, we're on point.”
Bassil said that the focus is now on its people, product, making money and making good work.
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