DIARY: Stories we could tell ... No opportunity too small for Saatchis

When it comes to self-promotion, Saatchi & Saatchi Taiwan gets Diary's vote as a master of art, with nothing more than sandwich boards and a giant football as its tools.

by | 04/19/2002

It strategically deployed its sandwich boards at the gala opening of Ogilvy & Mather's swank new office premises in Taipei.

In bold type, the boards read: "Congratulations O&M! A new locale will allow the production of good creative.

And in a cheeky jab, the smaller type boldly offered a suggestion to clients who might want to jump ship.

"If you want even better creative, please call (Saatchi at) 2700-3180)."

"They (Ogilvy) were good sports about it, but my guys were relieved when it was time to go,

chuckled Saatchis Taiwan CEO Neil Hardwick.

At about the same time, the Saatchis team also unveiled the world's largest soccer ball outside Taiwan's biggest shopping mall for client MasterCard, one of the sponsor's of this year's World Cup.

Seeing this as a chance to squeeze extra mileage out of the promotion, Saatchis tried registering the ball as the largest in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Sadly, Guinness didn't see any merit in the claim - the ball apparently wasn't the real thing. Well, you have to give it to the Saatchi execs - they do try hard.