Saatchi & Saatchi plc is a worldwide creative marketing communications group principally involved in the provision of advertising and creative marketing services. This paper will look at how the company started, its advertising and styles, and where the company stands in the marketplace today.
Saatchi & Saatchi, founded by brothers Charles and Maurice Saatchi in 1970 (Serrill, 1995), was incorporated in England and Wales on January, 26, 1990, as a private limited company under the name Gemgrove Services Ltd. The name changed to Chafma Consultants Ltd. on April 17, 1990. It changed again to Team Saatchi Ltd. on May 3, 1995, and changed again to Saatchi & Saatchi plc on September 4, 1997, when the company registered as a public limited company.
On December 15, 1997, the company was spun off by Cordiant plc in a demerger, resulting in the formation of two separate publicly traded companies - Cordiant Communications Group plc and Saatchi & Saatchi plc. It was a transaction whereby shareholders of Cordiant received one share of Saatchi and Saatchi plc and one share of Cordiant Communications Group plc for every two Cordiant shares held. Saatchi & Saatchi plc was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on December 19, 1997 with the symbol SSA. It is listed on the International Stock Exchange in London with the symbol SSI.
The principal stockholders after the demerger in 1997 were PODFM Ltd. (24.2 percent), Trimark Investment Management (10.0 percent), State of Wisconsin Investment Board (9.9 percent), Harris Associates (9.7 percent), and M & G Investment Management Ltd (5.5 percent). The chairman is C. T. Scott, the chief executive officer is R. L. Seelert, the treasurer is Susan W. Day, and the secretary is Fiona M. Evans. The directors are C. T. Scott, R. L. Seelert, Wendy Smyth, K. J. Roberts, W. H. Cochrane, K. S. Olshan, and Sir Peter I. Walters.
The principal subsidiaries of the company, wholly owned or noted, ar...