Saatchi & Saatchi London Announces New Heads of Planning

Saatchi & Saatchi London has today announced new joint Heads of Planning. Raquel Chicourel and Sam Wise, both previously Planning Partners, will share the role and report to Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, Richard Huntington. 

Raquel joined Saatchi & Saatchi in May 2014 as a Planning Partner and has worked across Häagen-Dazs, HomeAway and Kerry Foods. She started her career at JWT in Brazil then moved to the UK in the early 2000s, spending her most formative years at BBH London. 

Sam Wise joined Saatchi & Saatchi as a Planning Director in 2013 and has been responsible for overseeing strategy on EE, Direct Line and Deutsche Telekom. Previously, he worked in strategic roles at RGA, Anomaly and started out at RKCR/Y&R.

Chicourel said “I want, together with Sam, to champion a gang of planners that are smart and stupid, that have both brains and balls. We want them to feel they can fearlessly live and breathe the "Nothing is Impossible" philosophy and make brave work that matters in the real world."

 

Wise added, “It falls to planners to push the boundaries, both of what clients think we can do and what we consider our remit as agencies. This ambition for what is new and difficult requires constant pressure to make happen. It’s a fight, and that fight is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Raquel and I want to create the best bunch of pugnacious thinkers in London, and together go and pick more fights than we can handle.”

They will jointly oversee a team of 30 planners working across Asda, Direct Line, Häagen-Dazs, Visa, HSBC, HomeAway, EE and Deutsche Telekom amongst others. 

Richard Huntington said “Raquel and Sam are living embodiment of the ambition, audacity and endeavour required to deliver the impossible. And nothing makes me more proud than promoting home-grown talent like this.”