Advertising should be 'a swashbuckling adventure' for us all

Lord Saatchi, the Maurice Saatchi in the original Saatchi & Saatchi and the 'M' in the five-year-old M&C Saatchi, is surprised that people in advertising could possibly be unhappy. When told that many agency people in Asia are discontented, unhappy with their jobs, hate the clients, and think their lives are going nowhere, Lord Saatchi almost goes into shock. "Advertising should be a young person's first career choice," he told MEDIA. "I don't know another industry where a young person can get ahead so early in life." He should know. Maurice Saatchi was in his mid-20s when he and his brother Charles founded Saatchi & Saatchi in 1970. The agency became one of the most exciting brands in the world and a social revolution in itself, with ads such as "The Pregnant Man", big TV ideas for British Airways, credit for changing governments and a great big dollop of cheekiness that made the whole thing a swashbuckling adventure. The Saatchis made buckets of money, then one day decided to diversify slightly by buying the Midland Bank. That probably marked the pinnacle, although it wasn't until 1994 when Saatchi & Saatchi stockholders managed to sideline Maurice. Lord Saatchi, however, was angered by the whole affair and declined several showpony positions, preferring to break loose and set up a new outfit, M&C Saatchi, which even now he refers to as a "happy accident". M&C Saatchi now has staff of 1,000 worldwide, 250 of them in Asia and Australasia, and has been recording revenue growth worldwide of 100 per cent every year from 1995 to the present. Therefore Lord Saatchi is qualified to talk about how people should be enjoying advertising rather than despising the fact that they are a part of this misery. "Advertising is extremely meritocratic. What matters is who has the idea and the energy to make it happen," he said. "You can be a very senior person in advertising in your late 20s. Other industries are more hierarchical." Lord Saatchi said anyone in advertising has the opportunity "to sit at the knee of some of the cleverest businessmen in the world." In fact, anyone who doesn't want to go into advertising is making a mistake, according to Lord Saatchi. So it's clear that advertising can indeed be full of opportunity, but it's up to the individual to find fulfillment in the agency they choose to work for. When asked why there appeared to be so few agency start-ups in the modern era, Lord Saatchi said people were confused about whether it was viable to launch an agency in the age of globalisation. "We had British Airways and Qantas as foundation clients," he said. "We were very blessed." M&C Saatchi is a happy ship, according to Lord Saatchi, because "everyone is an owner". "That must make a difference. It's possible to have a straightforward conversation with someone in your own company without fear of causing hurt or envy." Lord Saatchi said business life can become a source of great stress and tension and the disaffected ones are suffering from the "horrors of anthill life". He said this feeling was not just among ad agencies, but in the client companies as well. "The world has come to recognise that size and geographical spread is vital. There is a tremendous drive for mergers, acquisitions and it's all Darwinian. It's not going to be reversed." Lord Saatchi said one of the most important and useful roles that management can play is to help companies with the general issue of morale. "What is the point? What is it all about? People need to have an answer to these questions and it's up to the top men in the company to provide a clear answer. "When people are happy, your company does well."

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