Maurice Saatchi Cracks the Marketing Conundrum

A new model for advertising and communications is being unveiled by M&C Saatchi, the world's leading independent creative agency, as it celebrates its twentieth year and launches a new institute, the Saatchi Institute. The new formula builds on academic research conducted in partnership with Unilever and research company Nielsen. The research begins proving the correlation between the investments in the art and science of a brand and their financial impact.

Lord Saatchi, co-founder of M&C Saatchi, commented: “Art and science have been at war for centuries. Big data and supercomputers make the conflict even sharper. Scientists denounce the artists as dinosaurs. Flakes! Natural luddites! Who needs them! Artists repay the compliment: Bean counters! Painting by numbers! The new Saatchi Institute proposes a formula to separate the combatants and start a peace process. At the V&A and the Science Museum, the Saatchi Institute is demonstrating the formula for consideration by the academic, scientific and marketing communities. Its aim is to predict cause and effect in advertising…the holy grail. Marketing has not yet found its Newton… until now.”

Tim Duffy, chairman of the M&C Saatchi UK Group, commented: “The artists and scientists in our industry both think they are right and that’s why we need this research. It unlocks a specific relationship between art and science that correlates with success. Big data or creativity? Applying the new model gives marketing directors an ability to know where to invest in the brand so they can build their market share. This is a wake-up call for agencies to change the way they do business.”

M&C Saatchi celebrates its 20th birthday with events at both the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum in London, hosted by Lord Saatchi, Jeremy Sinclair, Bill Muirhead, David Kershaw, Moray MacLennan and other founders. The new formula will then be uncovered and explored in detail by Lord Saatchi, Tim Duffy and special guests at a London Business School event on 3 July.