How to survive as a Saatchi & Saatchi suit.
Being an outstanding “suit” is no easy
task. Being an outstanding “Saatchis”
suit is even more difficult.
Saatchi & Saatchi has high
standards and high expectations
of each and every member of the
team. But we are only human.
Sometimes we make mistakes.
Other times we don’t know what
is expected, and other times we
won’t know the best way of
achieving our objectives.
This poster is a collection of
pointers, ‘tips’ if you like, to help
you achieve success in your
endeavours. They reflect both the
‘Saatchi’ attitude and practical
ways of doing your job better.
If you use the poster correctly, it
should help you make the right
decision in those circumstances
where a little help really would
be helpful.
Go for it, and good luck!
1. Nothing is impossible.
2. Advertising is a collective
process. Use ‘we’ and avoid ‘I’.
‘We’ is both truthful and
reassuring.
3. Saatchi & Saatchi is the best
agency in Singapore. Always
behave in a way that adds to its
reputation.
4. Remember good manners.
Treat everyone with respect.
5. Think Big - big ideas lead to
big results.
6. Admit your mistakes, learn
from them, move on.
7. A big task is rarely
accomplished with a little ad.
8. You’re in the driver’s seat -
drive your business into the
future.
9. Never be afraid to ask...
an inquiring mind is an asset.
10. Search for solutions, not
problems.
11. Treat the Agency as if it were
your own.
12. Treat every advertisement as
your own. Mentally substitute
your name where the logo is.
Still proud of it.
13. Remember, technology lets
you do many things – use
satellites, hire phones, whatever
it takes to get the job done.
14. Don’t put off the hard calls.
Deal with bad news immediately.
15. Details make the difference
between an excellent result and
an acceptable one.
16. Know the creative department.
17. Celebrate success. Make it
fun to be part of the winning
team.
19. No pain no gain.
19. Smile and don’t moan.
20. Do it now.
21. Keep in touch. Read widely.
22. Look at other advertisements.
23. Do the homework, be better
prepared.
24. Even great ads can have a
‘weak spot’ – find out what it
is and prepare your response in
advance.
25. Put yourself in the other
person’s shoes.
26. Don’t forget the client has a
job to do as well.
27. Work hard. Harder than you
expect others to work.
28. Progress, not process.
29. Be prepared. Style is never a
substitute.
30. Write presentations as
though every chart is an ad. Lead
with a headline. Finish with an
invitation to buy.
31. Great ideas can come from
anywhere and anyone.
32. Don’t compromise.
33. Have a curious mind. Use
‘what if’. Interrogate statements
with ‘so?’
34. Know more about your
clients’ products or services than
they do.
35. Become the recognised
‘keeper of the brand’.
36. Do your ‘fieldwork’. Work in
the factory, behind the counter.
37. Make your client feel good.
38. Look after your colleagues.
Help them out.
39. Never try to ‘score points’ at
a colleague’s expense. You’ll lose
more than you score.
40. Be a realistic optimist.
41. Remember to sell.
42. Introduce the members of
your team.
43. Get briefs into the system as
soon as possible – time wasted at
the beginning of the process is
never caught up at the end.
44. Avoid assumptions when
facts are available.
45. Trust your instinct.
46. Quantify your successes.
47. Take the long term view.
48. Take ownership. Don’t rely
on others to do the selling.
49. Invest heavily in the
briefing process. It is your ticket
to success.
50. Never present an
advertisement without
understanding it.
51. Sell the brief, sell the ad
from the brief.
52. Treasure your creative
partners. Talk to them.
53. Practice the art of inclusion.
Spread ownership of success.
54. No politics.
55. Champion great advertising.
56. Recognise others’
achievements. Be generous in
your praise.
57. Admit mistakes and rectify
them quickly.
58. Play your part in setting
Saatchi & Saatchi’s ‘tone’.
59. Create a ‘buying’ environ-
ment. If you’ve done your part,
the ‘sell’ is easy.
60. Build your client’s trust. Be
very careful with how to use it.
61. Take a ‘helicopter’ view. See
the big picture.
62. Don’t become preoccupied
with your next career move. Do
what you’re meant to be doing
better than anyone else and your
career will take care of itself.
63. Prima Donnas are ballet
dancers.
64. Keep the end goal in sight.
65. There are those who listen
and those who wait to speak –
the latter work for the other
agencies.
66. Make the client a member of
the team – and a team player.
67. Ask for the order.
68. Watch for body language –
including your own.
69. Create energy, don’t drain it.
70. Follow up, follow through.
71. The best suits get the best out
of Saatchi & Saatchi and match
it to the best out of the client.
72. Pull rabbits out of the hat.
73. Use your clients’ products.
74. Over deliver.
75. Say thank you – even better,
send a note.
76. Sit in on research groups,
better still, run your own.
77. Take copious notes – it’s
flattering and useful.
78. Be discreet.
79. Pay attention to detail.
80. Remain resolutely positive.
81. Be careful about presenting
more than one idea – it usually
indicates untidy thinking.
82. Clever questions are usually
better than smart answers.
83. Take your time to answer –
give the question the
consideration it deserves.
84. Don’t be afraid to say I don’t
know.
85. But come back with an
answer – quickly.
86. Think in campaign terms,
look for long-term solutions.
87. Annual plans are a
fundamental discipline and
every client deserves one.
88. The best new business is
business you already have.
89. Every client is an
individual, treat them as such.
90. Be wise in your use of
research. Don’t use it as a
substitute for decision making.
91. The best ideas are original.
They’re usually the hardest to
research.
92. Search for the nuggets.
93. Champion Saatchi &
Saatchi.
94. Deal to the urgent, look after
the important.
95. Don’t over complicate the
issue, get to the point.
96. Create a sense of action,
excitement.
97. Never be asked twice.
98. A full page ad or a 60 second
TVC is an expression of
confidence that consumers
readily recognise.
99. Don’t be scared to serve the
coffee yourself.
100. Before you end a meeting,
make sure nothing is left
unresolved.
101. Keep meetings short and to
the point.
102. Beware the work-in-progress
list that lacks significant work in
progress – it usually spells trouble.
103. Treat your client’s money as
your own.
104. Get organised.
105. Be confident – and have a
reason to be.
106. Good account handlers plan
their accounts, not react to them.
107. Surprise Saatchi & Saatchi.
Surprise your client. Surprise
yourself.
108. Treat every brief as an
opportunity.
109. Understand the difference
Saatchi & Saatchi
advertising
between objectives and strategies.
110. Never underestimate the
power of media.
111. Translate numbers into
concepts.
112. Get to the point.
113. Ensure that people wan to
work on your accounts. Make it
fun, challenging, rewarding.
114. Be a perfectionist. Don’t
settle for second-best.
115. Act at all times like a
professional.
116. Learn Saatchi & Saatchi’s
nuances, its traditions. Value and
protect them because they give
Saatchi & Saatchi its sense of
uniqueness.
117. There is a direct correlation
between ads that win awards
and are successful in the market
place.
118. Saatchi & Saatchi is only as
good as its weakest part. Help to
improve it.
119. There is no ‘engine room’ in
Saatchi & Saatchi, nor is there a
‘they’. We are each and every one
of us responsible for its success.
120. Share your knowledge.
121. Demonstrate you’ve
listened and taken notes.
Feed quotes back during your
presentation.
122. When was the last time you
met a successful cynic?
123. Always look for a big idea.
124. When you are caught in a
drawn-out-process, focus on the
end result. That way you retain
the integrity of the idea.
125. The best way to win a big
victory is to win small ones along
the way.
126. Mediocrity is when your ad is
no better than the competitors.
127. Because something can’t be
proven to work, doesn’t mean it
won’t.
128. Concede graciously when
you’re wrong.
129. There are no proven
formulas in the creation of great
advertising – the best work is
always outside them.
130. Interrogate the product: the
answers are often staring you in
the face.
131. In a presentation, marshal
your facts and present them in a
sequence which invites a series
of positive responses.
132. “Convince a man against
his will and unconvinced he will
remain still”. Listen and look
for doubts and negatives –
address them, then move on.
133. Don’t leave an ad on display
once you’ve sold it. Put it away
and move on to the next subject.
134. Structure presentations so
that the most important sections
are left till last.
135. Take pride in your honesty.
136. Make decisions based on
what’s the best long term interest
and work back from there.
137. When you write a document,
the headings from ‘The Brief’ are
an ideal starting point.
138. Fortune favours the bold.
139. Take pride in Saatchi &
Saatchi’s success whoever and
whatever it is.
140. Rehearse the sell by
interrogating creatives on how
they would sell it.
141. Prior to presentation,
rehearse, plan the sell. Anticipate
likely objections.
142. What’s in the agency’s best
interest is always more important
than any one individual’s
interest.
143. Treat your creative partners
as partners. Your relationship will
dictate the type of work you get.
144. Remember your clients’
birthdays and anniversaries with
Saatchis. Use the occasion to
thank them and to discuss the
future.
145. Welcome old clients to their
new job on their first day.
146. Account management has
the power to control the agency –
or let it go out of control.
147. Be punctual.
148. Always fight for great
creative.
149. Thank the client for buying
the big idea.
150. Keep your own reel and
guard book.
151. Be in the business for great
ads, the money will take care of
itself.
152. If you’re not making great
ads, you’re losing influence.
153. Treat briefs like gold, the
creatives will give you gold in
return.
154. Treat other people the way
you want to be treated yourself.
155. Always answer the phone
with your name and a positive
response – it’s infectious.
156. It is not a sin to say “I’m
busy, can I ring you back!” But
make sure you do!
157. Hound that new business
prospect and compete like hell to
win it.
158. Make your job your hobby
and let it show.
159. Aim to win at least one
international award (creative or
marketing) a year for one of your
clients.
160. Know when to ask for help.
Assistance is far more positive
than salvage.
161. Perception is reality.
162. Have an opinion.
163. Never betray a confidence.
164. Use all the resources you
can to solve a client’s problems,
including our international
network.
165. Arnold Palmer said, ‘The
more I practice, the luckier I get’.
166. The best way to beat the
leader is to make them look old-
fashioned and slow to respond.
167. Failure to communicate
creates a vacuum that is filled
by poison, misinformation and
drivel.
168. Consensus is important,
conviction more so.
169. Never let research replace
judgement.
170. Pre-testing advertising often
impedes creativity because it
focusses on ‘what is’ not ‘what it
can be’. It criticises rather than
creates.
171. Don’t worry about problems;
solve them.
172. If it can be done today –
do it.
173. Talk, don’t send notes.
174. Believe in decency.
175. Answer the question.
176. The only way to break new
ground is to break away from
what was... and to seek what’s
new.
177. Take a chance and learn
from it.
178. Don’t try to be impressive –
just be impressive.
179. Be pro-active till it hurts.
180. Tune in to each client at all
levels.
181. Be addicted to innovation –
not just creativity.
182. Get it wrong the first time.
183. What’s simple isn’t always
easy.
184. Try to imagine what you
would do if every cent you
owned was tied up in the client’s
company.
185. Common-sense isn’t very
common at all.
186. Brand champions are
courageous.
187. When you write the brief
remember it is the start of the
creative process.
188. It’s not the hours you put in
that count, but what you put into
the hours.
189. Use Saatchi & Saatchi
members for informal but
effective consumer input.
190. Have a ‘can do’ attitude.
191. It’s easier to criticise than it
is to create.
192. Always get into the agency
half an hour before your boss.
193. If you must use research to
refine your brief, use propositions
rather than creative work.
194. Try to keep attendees in a
meeting to a minimum. It leads
to better decision making.
195. When you’re on, YOU’RE
ON – you’re only new once.
196. Don’t lose your ‘street
smarts’ – stay in touch.
197. Learn from everyone.
198. Listen to your client.
“We believe in advertising. We
believe it is our most effective
marketing tool – the very life
blood of our brands”.
199. The key to success is
choosing the high ground then
owning it.
200. Avoid waffle.
201. Be passionate about
advertising.
202. Don’t swamp clients in a
meeting.
203. Don’t feel reassured if
you’ve seen something like this
ad before – start feeling
uncomfortable.
204. Don’t over-sell. Once an
ad has been agreed, move on.
“Over selling” often results in
the reverse.
205. Make it easy for the client
to buy.
206. Beware the Abominable
‘No’ man.
207. Don’t waste creative people’s
time in drawn-out meetings.
208. Where there’s a will, there’s
a way.
209. Nothing is impossible.