Another Kiwi gets top foreign job with Saatchi

By DITA DE BONI

The worldwide offices of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi have been boosted by the promotion of yet another New Zealander.

Saatchi & Saatchi NZ chief executive James Hall, who is 41, will vacate his position at the head of the network's Auckland and Wellington agencies in April to become chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi UK.

The move will see him leave behind an agency with billings of around $150 million, just over 130 staff and a client roster featuring Telecom, WestpacTrust and the Lotteries Commission.

He will relocate to an agency with billings of over $US500 million ($1.14 billion), more than 500 staff and global clients including Proctor & Gamble, Toyota, Sony and Carslberg.

Mr Hall has managed Saatchi Wellington since 1993, becoming head of the combined Auckland and Wellington agencies late last year.

He follows in the footsteps of other well-known Saatchi employees by going international. Ex-pats Kevin Roberts and Peter Cullinane are now respectively chief executive and chief financial officer of the worldwide agency network.

Saatchi & Saatchi is now a division of French advertising concern Publicis after being bought last June for $4 billion.