M&C Saatchi Group notched up a solid 2023 with a string of client wins for various different scopes of work, including Dare Iced Coffee, Youi, Old El Paso, Asics, the NSW and Victorian Departments of Education, Australian Retirement Trust and Ryman Healthcare. 

Of the group’s 100 clients, 23 were added in 2023 and only two clients left, Fantastic Furniture and Western Sydney University.

As the group now operates in a more integrated fashion, its B&T Agency Scorecard accounts for the sum of its parts, including M&C Saatchi, Re Worldwide, Bohemia, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, Yes Agency, Greenhouse Collective and its other divisions. 

An example of this collaboration is that M&C Saatchi won joint pitches with media agency stablemate Bohemia for the Australian Retirement Trust and Ryman Healthcare. 

The agency also added significant sparkle to its trophy cabinet by picking up a host of silverware for the exceptional “Come and Say G’Day” work for Tourism Australia, and a silver PR Lion for Minderoo’s “Plastic Forecast”.

In spite of the plaudits, M&C Saatchi’s partnership with Tourism Australia was placed under review late in the 2023 season.

The agency handles three of the biggest creative accounts in Australia: Woolies, CommBank and Optus, and has done so for six, 13 and 15 years, respectively. 

What’s more, 80 per cent of M&C’s top clients increased their spend or added new service capabilities. At a time when clients are slashing budgets for off-field reasons, this increase in organic growth is impressive.

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the M&C Saatchi roster, particularly with a series of leadership changes near the top amid a global restructure.

CEO Moray McLennan, having spent nearly 30 years with the agency, retired. Zillah Byng-Thorne took over as chair and acting global CEO, and set about reshuffling the changing room to be “future-fit and geared for growth”. 

In the process, Australian CEO Justin Graham was handed the captain’s armband for APAC, while chief creative Cam Blackley departed after six years, substituted by Meta’s Steve Coll late in the season. The agency also made redundancies towards the end of the year.

M&C Saatchi Group is a female-dominant business (60 per cent of its workforce are women), but its median gender pay gap widened from 9.2 per cent to 15.9 per cent. 

With a reshuffling of the leadership pack and the rise of junior talent internally, M&C has undertaken a series of initiatives to ensure it is in tiptop condition and performing at the highest level. 

For instance, its flagship Open House DE&I and recruitment internship program entered its second year and has been “instrumental” in promoting diversity across the agency. 

It also brought in equal parental leave for primary and secondary carers. As such, the AFR placed it fourth nationally in its Best Places to Work list.