M&C Saatchi Announces New Setup in Germany

The German branch of the international owner-managed agency network M&C Saatchi is restructuring and taking off with new management, expanded offering and an innovative location concept.

With the merger of the three specialist agencies for advertising, digital and sports and entertainment, the agency group's longstanding partners Simona Schapiro, Jannis Klausch and Christian "Kidde" Schuck will become the new management trio of an entirely new M&C Saatchi in Germany. This marks the first milestone in a major transformation process that began in the middle of last year with Schuck's succession to Dominik Tiemann as Managing Director of the Advertising and Digital unit.

With this line-up, the team is now uniting various communications disciplines under a single roof, thus broadening the potential of the business in the German market, while making it much leaner and faster in operational terms for the future. M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment's roots of making brands culturally relevant based on existing passions and interests of target audiences remains a key pillar of the agency.

"We have always combined all the disciplines and specialty agencies needed to be competitive, relevant and successful in the M&C Saatchi network. The only thing no one needs are internal and accounting walls created by individual entities and country borders. That's why we will consistently and brutally simplify ourselves to work together even faster and more effectively - not only within the disciplines in Germany, but also with our European partners and, of course, with and for our national and international clients," says Christian "Kidde" Schuck.

With the newly united forces, the agency brand strengthens its positioning as a creative solutions company and offers current and new clients from a wide range of industries fully integrated solutions from a comprehensive service portfolio. With this step, the Berliners are creating the conditions for further growth and are consistently following the purpose of the agency group both externally and internally: "deliver meaningful change".

This courage to change has also found its way into the new location. The elegant and hidden old office building in Münzstraße has now become the simple and brutalist House of M&C Saatchi in Brunnenstraße. A combination of workplace, art gallery and club atmosphere for employees, clients and creative friends of the company.

The new location will be inaugurated at an event on April 20, 2023, together with the CEO of M&C Saatchi Group Moray MacLennan and the global CEO of M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment Steve Martin, who made the merger possible quickly and without red tape. As the first house of its kind, it will enable even greater international exchange and the integration of different talents and areas of expertise in the future - in an agile and networked manner.

"We have long kept ourselves discreetly in the background and let our work speak for us. Often with the consequence that we were mistaken for the old agency of our founding brothers, which hasn’t been part of the family for a long time. Therefore, we want to shed the restraint that our old offices also reflected. With the new location, we not only become more present to the outside world, but also enable and encourage new ways and cultures of working. We are creating an open place for creative exchange and collaboration - not for the busywork that is more effectively done in home office nowadays," says Simona Schapiro.

As a full-service communications agency, M&C Saatchi serves brands in Germany in various industries such as automotive, FMCG, retail, banking, electronics, luxury, lifestyle & sports, and implements all topics ranging from Advertising & Content, Passion Marketing, Consulting & Strategy, Performance & Media, to Global Issues with a multidisciplinary team of around 40 employees.

Always driven by the ambition to develop entrepreneurial solutions with creative ideas, the Brutal Simplicity of Thought© philosophy developed by advertising legends Maurice & Charles Saatchi continues to be central to the team's approach in Berlin, combined with the aspiration to develop zeitgeisty communication and be hungry for the new.

And the new agency model is already bearing fruit before the inauguration. Most recently, the team around the three managing directors was able to win various new clients such as the DFL for international strategic positioning and campaigns of the Bundesliga, Nexi - one of the leading European PayTech companies, the peanut bar Mr. Tom, the Spanish Liqueur43, as well as the German launch of a new international jewellery & accessories marketplace (brand still confidential). The agency also secured the budget for a major sustainability campaign for long-time client Lidl, featuring one of Germany's most recognizable faces, which will go on air with maximum media pressure during the week of the launch.

"This is our re-launch. With the new location, we can finally show the direction our journey is taking. But we are far from having reached the end of our change process. Together with our international colleagues, we still have a lot of plans - in Europe." Jannis Klausch reveals.

Together with partners from Milan, Stockholm, Madrid, Paris and Geneva, and under the leadership of Carlo Noseda, as CEO and Founder of M&C Saatchi EU, M&C Saatchi Berlin is working on a unique Creative Solutions Platform for the common European market that can grow and change with the specific needs of its clients. Exciting stuff!

This merging of the individual locations will not only be interesting for employees who can already work from the other locations, but above all for international customers who are looking for solutions beyond campaigns and can configure their own individual package of different competencies instead of hiring a monolithic agency. An organization designed to redefine the fundamentals of the business and meet the needs of each individual company. This structure, with strategically placed centers of excellence, makes it possible to be exactly where they are needed and optimize the capabilities of each solution through the local touch.

Looking back, M&C Saatchi, one of the largest independent agency networks in the world, has fended off two hostile takeover attempts in the last 12 months and successfully defended its independence. After so many major creative agencies have been bought up by consulting and communications groups in recent years, the London-based company, which has always liked to fight above its own weight class, is sending an important message to all remaining creative powerhouses: David can still beat Goliath!

Following recent strategy highlights and compelling results presented at M&C Saatchi Group's "Moving Forward" Capital Market Day (link), the network's re-start in Berlin is now another exciting news story.

Moray MacLennan, CEO of the M&C Saatchi Group, is excited about the new start in Berlin: "We have a powerful management team in place at the location that is making a vital contribution to positive agency development and is perfectly positioned for today's competitive challenges to achieve our ambitious goals for the future."