Worldwide CEO Kevin Roberts revealed his plans to Media while he was in Singapore for the 2007 Global Brand Forum.
"The idea is to offer strategic advice and drive profitability for sustainability-led businesses. With an issue like climate change, you have to be proactive and lead from the front," said Roberts.
"The idea is to offer strategic advice and drive profitability for sustainability-led businesses. With an issue like climate change, you have to be proactive and lead from the front," said Roberts.
Sustainability experts will be hired to work alongside ad executives, with a focus on shopper marketing.
"The focus will be on the consumer up, and packaging and point-of-sale is where we can best influence consumers," Roberts explained. "There is already movement at a corporate level to tackle climate change — at Toyota and Procter & Gamble, for instance. We enter at the point where we can get closest to consumers."
The division will launch first in the US, where "client CEOs are most receptive", said Roberts. A roll-out in Asia-Pacific is set for between 12 to 24 months.
"I want everyone on board by the end of 2008. Although the unit will start off as a specialism, it will be re-integrated into the agency — like digital is being now."
The Saatchis chief executive also hinted at changes in Asia following the formation of SSF Group, a new Saatchi & Saatchi/Fallon group structure in the US and the UK.
Roberts said that the group, formed earlier this month, could support the launch of the Fallon brand in Asian markets once Fallon's Minneapolis home-base had re-secured its footing.
"Fallon has had a run of bad luck in the US since (former president and ECD) David Lubars left," said Roberts.
"But is the Fallon brand disappearing? No. Once we've got the offering right in the US, we can think about what to do with Fallon in key markets such as China and India."
Roberts admitted he had yet to discuss how the SSF Group set-up would affect Fallon Tokyo with its MD Phil Rubel, but it is expected the agency will be unaffected.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Europe, Middle East and Africa and Latin America, Jim O'Mahony, has been shifted to the new role of CEO of CRIB (China, Russia, India, Brazil) to drive “explosive growth" in markets identified as key developing countries.
"Jim's job is to make sure learnings from one market are transferred to the others to ensure we sustain double digit growth," said Roberts.
