Since MacLennan's appointment as global lead at the end of 2008, M&C Saatchi has been going through an expansion push, opening offices in Sao Paulo, Geneva, Cape Town, Tokyo and Guangzhou, among others. MacLennan points out that this is now close to completion, stating that “within the first half of this year we will be everywhere we need to be”, while adding that for a modern global agency network, between 20 and 30 offices should be enough, “The network of today doesn’t need 150 offices.”
For MacLennan, M&C’s unique culture is what sets it apart from other agencies in the eyes of potential clients. “If you cut us open… it is very clear what we stand for,” he says, arguing that “what we deliver on behalf of our clients is that intellectual rigour and that simplicity that is required to cut through in today’s media environment.”
It is this agency philosophy, he says, that will also help the agency attract the best talent through its doors, although he does accept that more needs to be done in Asia.
“In Asia I think we need to work harder on our profile. I think the network in Asia isn’t quite complete… there is certainly one other market we need to be in the region. And then we just need to work on strengthening some offers and upping our profile and being more talked about.”
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