With a stable of big-spending clients and one ofadvertising’s most storied names, you might think Saatchi & SaatchiHealthcare Communications Group would be the last shop in need of a rebrand.
They’re keeping the name, but faced with declining spending in the pharma sector,a dearth of big new mass-market drugs to launch and a tough market for talent,the firm today unveiled a new visual and corporate identity centered onhealthier living.
“We’re evolving beyond a pure pharma, fix-sick-people kindof approach to a much richer, more wellness-focused place, with more diverseofferings,” said Sam Welch, president. “We’re hiring a lot more folks out of thedigital realm and a lot more with a heavy CRM background.”
Saatchi’s new visual identity is based on 13th-centuryItalian mathematician Fibonacci’s golden spiral, meant to convey a more organicfeel and potential for exponential growth, said Welch. The agency, known for blockbusterintegrated accounts like AstraZeneca’s Nexium and Sanofi-Aventis’ Ambien, willlook beyond prescription drugs for work in other health-related areas, from OTCproducts to fitness.
“It’s also about what we bring back to our foundationalclients in pharma,” says Welch. “They need us to be richer and more diverse.They need us to have a perspective of what’s going on in OTC, health andwellness so that when we’re thinking about those brands we’ve got the wholepicture.”
The agency is also revamping its offerings for employeesthrough Saatchi Youniverse, an internal initiative incorporating lifestyleperks like virtual work environments, subsidized gym memberships and otherfitness incentives, and community service through a partnership with New YorkCares.
The overhaul, for which the Publicis firm is spending “hundredsof thousands,” is needed to modernize the agency and make it better able to retaintalented young employees of a generation that scoffs at the traditionaloffice-based 9-9 advertising job.
“If traditional agencies don’t very quickly evolve to an approachencompassing digital and CRM and bringing a more holistic perspective toeverything they do, they’re just going to be left in the dust to shrivel up anddie,” says Welch.
