Saatchi & Saatchi has sold the New York-based creative hotshop,
Cliff Freeman & Partners, to its management for dollars 4.6 million.
The agency was set up by Saatchis in 1987 to continue handling the
successful Little Caesars account after Saatchis picked up the
conflicting Burger King business. It has gone on to scoop creative
awards and has grown into a dollars 285 million-billing shop.
The agency hit the headlines with its controversial campaign for the
online technology store, outpost.com. The campaign showed an often
macabre sense of humour in a bid to stand out from the techie approach
of rivals.
’Cannon’, which picked up a gold at Cannes and a D&AD award, involved a
gerbil being fired out of a cannon at a wall. Another spot, ’band’,
showed a pack of hungry wolves being set on a high-school band, while
’forehead’ featured children having their brows tattooed.
’The reputation of Saatchi & Saatchi’s New York office has gone from
strength to strength under Tod Seisser’s creative leadership; thus we
feel that the time is right for Cliff Freeman & Partners to pursue its
goals independently,’ Kevin Roberts, chief executive officer of Saatchi
& Saatchi, said.
Roberts added that the thrust of Saatchis’ business is on international
clients, reducing the need for a local agency. He said: ’Cliff Freeman
is a US-focused agency. Saatchi & Saatchi’s global network delivers
highly creative ideas to a multinational client base led by Procter &
Gamble, Toyota, General Mills, Hewlett Packard and Johnson & Johnson.’
