Show Notes
Inside Saatchi & Saatchi. Sit down with the CEO of one of the most iconic agencies in advertising, a name that carries both weight and expectation, to understand how CEO Claire Hollands leads for today.
This is a conversation about ambition. Not in the abstract, but in how it shows up in the work, in the culture, and in the relationship between agencies and clients.
We get into how Saatchi & Saatchi is positioning itself around growth, why creativity still holds commercial power (even if the industry occasionally forgets it), and how agencies are rethinking their value, from billable hours to business outcomes.
There’s also a clear view on where things are shifting: the role of AI, the reality of pitching, and why agencies need to be more deliberate about the clients they choose.
Running through all of it is leadership, how you make decisions without perfect information, how you build a culture of high challenge and high support, and how you balance legacy with the need to move forward.
What you’ll learn: Why agencies need to reposition themselves around growth, not outputs How creativity still drives commercial performance and where it gets undervalued What actually builds trust between agencies and clients Why most pitch processes are flawed and what better looks like How to think about agency value, pricing, and remuneration The difference between growth brands and transformation brands and why it matters What “high challenge, high support” looks like in practice How great leaders make decisions without having all the answers What AI is changing in agencies and what it isn’t Why hiring for attitude and curiosity matters more than experience
Timestamps 00:03:00 – Finding your people in the industry 00:06:00 – Why account management sits at the centre of the agency 00:07:00 – Building trust in client relationships 00:12:00 – How decisions are really made at senior level 00:15:00 – Culture, values, and collective ambition 00:19:00 – High challenge, high support: what it means in practice 00:23:00 – Managing pressure across career and family 00:25:30 – Where the agency world is heading 00:29:30 – The evolving agency model 00:32:00 – The role and reality of pitching 00:33:30 – What needs to change in pitch processes 00:37:30 – Hiring for attitude, not just skill 00:39:00 – What excites Claire about what’s next
About the podcast That’s What I Call Marketing is a podcast for marketers who care about how brands grow, how advertising works, and how the industry is evolving through conversations with the people shaping it. That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession. Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.
Listen, follow and find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com Connect with Conor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbyrneirl/ If you enjoy the show, please follow, subscribe and leave a review. It helps more marketers find the conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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