M&C Saatchi - IPO, British Airways loss and One Word Equity

The Saatchi brothers are iconic figures in the advertising industry. M&C Saatchi was founded in 1995 and led by a partnership of Maurice Saatchi, Jeremy Sinclair, Bill Muirhead  and David Kershaw had been built into one of London's leading independent international advertising agencies.  When asked if we would manage the communications surrounding their forthcoming IPO we leapt at the opportunity.

The float had its challenges from a communications perspective.  The previous incarnation Saatchi and Saatchi had soared high only to fall.  The brothers were almost as famous for wanting to acquire the Midland Bank as for their advertising.  The M&C strategy was to grow internationally through organic hiring and growth, with selected small acquisitions in certain markets.

We knew that the announcement of the IPO would attract significant media attention - the challenge was to enable the new management team, including the next generation of young turks, to be fairly represented and to ensure the market understood their strategy and investment case. As predicted, coverage was extensive but positive.  The market warmed to the IPO and the Offer was over-subscribed.

The focus of our work then changed to helping the company establish the processes and procedures for the on-going communications demands of being a public company.  We developed an investment case, liaised with the sell side analysts to build their following and played a major part in the preparation of statutory announcements and presentations.

We could not have prepared for the bombshell of losing the BA account.  This was a hugely symbolic moment in the life of the Company and we worked hard to ensure that amidst the intense media coverage of the account change the market and the media understood that whilst sad at the loss, the agency had moved beyond relying upon it and that it only accounted for 6% of revenue.

Since then Tulchan has continued to advise M&C on its ongoing communications and reputation. Among other projects was the successful launch of Lord Saatchi’s new business model for advertising, One Word Equity. Tulchan placed a 900 word piece by Lord Saatchi in the FT on the day of his launch speech at the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival. An online Q&A was set up with Lord Saatchi on FT.com on the day. This ensured advance publicity from the FT and prominent promotion on the masthead. The One Word Equity site was launched featuring an audio podcast of Lord Saatchi, interviewed by Susanna Voyle  of Vox Media, a sister company to Tulchan . The project generated worldwide press, TV and radio coverage and future requests for interviews alongside significant interest from potential M&C clients.