This first appeared in the AdNews 2019 Annual edition. Subscribe here for your copy.
The end of the year has a shocking way of sneaking up on you, especially when it’s been a busy one. And that’s never been more true for M&C Saatchi. We’ve been flat out producing brutally simple ideas for our clients. As a result, it has been our most successful year ever.
We began 2019 with some major client wins: Tourism Australia was followed by TAB, and we’ve already delivered some seriously impressive work for these two brands.
For Tourism Australia, we turned Australia into a business with the launch of Australia Inc. And in August, we launched an all-new brand platform for TAB, Long May We Play, which continues to roll out as we speak.
We opened an office in New Zealand growing our footprint alongside our relationship with Woolworths as we welcomed Countdown as a client.
And the work didn’t stop there. We also oversaw the extension of the Commbank brand platform and the Better for You campaign, in addition to the Lexus Experience amazing work. We’ve seen the Woolworths “That’s why I picked Woolies” approach evolve, and we launched Big W’s “Every day’s a big day” brand platform.
Our CX team also created Minnie, an AI-powered image decoder that can analyse stills and film, documenting trends in language and imagery. Minnie provides insights into how diversity is portrayed for individual brands and the advertising industry as a whole. But her possibilities for growth and application are endless.
Work aside, a major highlight this year was being named Australia’s Most Innovative Marketing and Media Agency by the AFR’s Most Innovative Companies list. It’s the fifth year running we’ve appeared on this coveted list.
It’s been a great year and we couldn’t have done it without the hard work and dedication of our people. But we’re not done and from where I’m standing, 2020 is shaping up to be even more exciting.
We’ve been thinking about what the agency will look like in five years time and next year is the first step in that direction.
Like our clients, we need to diversify and today, M&C Saatchi develops products, services, utilities and experiences as well as communications.
Diversification is vital, not only in our work but also in our thinking. Diversity of Thought is a well established M&C Saatchi pillar and to us, it means having a voice at the table for all of the audiences we speak to. We’re committed to diversity and in 2020, we will continue to instil this in the business through the way we hire as well as through the work we produce.
The reality is that the war for the consumer’s attention is only intensifying and agencies are being challenged every day to find new ways to cut through. With challenge comes opportunity and this is where Brutal Simplicity of Thought comes into play.
Simple strategies inspire change. Simple ideas find their way into culture. Simple processes get things done. And simple innovations change the world. We build brands with simple ideas at their core for a reason: it gives them longevity. It gives them the flexibility to keep up with culture because platform ideas live beyond campaigns and build long-term equity over time. It’s simple. It works. And it defines our creative product.
With the ability to connect and move people, to take them on an emotional journey while surprising, delighting and rewarding consumers for their attention, creativity is the last legal form of competitive advantage.
Next year, expect to hear more from us as we celebrate the ongoing efforts of our team and our clients.
Bring on 2020.
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