An Expression of confidence
With the acquisition of independent agency Expression, M&C Saatchi is embarking on a period of regional growth, Scott Feasey tells Iain Akerman
“It feels like the end and the beginning all at the same time,” says Scott Feasey, the former owner of Expression and the newly-crowned chief executive of M&C Saatchi Dubai. “It’s a new chapter in our company’s story, but we all know the heartache and the hard work, the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into that story and the many chapters before that.”
Feasey, who founded boutique agency Expression in Dubai in 2002, has done what anyone who sets up their own agency ultimately wishes to do – sell to a global network. And not just any network, but arguably one of the most inform of them all.
“The highlights look fantastic and it’s the dream story,” admits Feasey. “But everyone who has been running a business in the last 10 years knows it’s been one of the hardest things they’ve probably ever done in their life. It feels fantastic to be here right now, and I’m very lucky that we had more than one suitor, but now it’s all about the next phase of our life and the future.”
That future will, with all probability, be fairly intense. Moray MacLennan, M&C Saatchi’s worldwide chief executive officer, has indicated that the agency will be looking to aggressively expand across the region, with Feasey to drive growth across new business and existing clients in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
“We have a short to medium-term plan of massive growth within the UAE, while the medium to long-term is more offices within the region,” says Feasey. “Personally, Iran is very much of interest to me and the doors are opening up. We have a trip coming up to meet ad agencies there, so that might be a future acquisition. But I think there’s enough business here and certainly the UAE is going to hold our attention for now. And let me be fair, the Dubai office works across the whole Middle East and North Africa, so it’s a regional player, not just a local one.”
The growth and expansion of the Dubai office will be aided and abetted by the success provided by Abu Dhabi. Now an office of 45 to 50 people, its clients include Etihad, twofour54, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, and Abu Dhabi Global Market, the capital’s financial free zone. The office had previously been led by Ahsan Kahlon, with Feasey taking over as chief executive in August year, six months before the buy-out of Expression was finalised and the creation of M&C Saatchi Dubai.
The only stumbling block in the creation of M&C Saatchi had been Expression’s joint venture with micro-network iris Worldwide, which it had partnered with in 2012.
“Iris was fantastic for us at the stage we were at in our agency evolution and they gave us fantastic experience, great clients and a great brand to work with,” admits Feasey. “But at the time that M&C Saatchi came along, iris was becoming part of Cheil and you have to say, ‘ok, let’s evaluate the situation going forward. This has been great for this period of time, they are going in a different direction, should we follow or should we go in a different direction?’. And we had a fantastic joint venture that allowed us to review after three years. So it was kind of one of those moments when all the stars aligned and you’re looking at three years into the joint venture, them being part of Cheil group, Cheil having an office here, and M&C knocking on the door.”
Did Ryan Reed, executive creative director in Abu Dhabi and a former colleague at Expression, play any part in Feasey’s decision to throw in his lot with M&C Saatchi? The two are like a couple unable to break up. Feasey laughs. “There were three or four reasons why I wanted to work with M&C Saatchi and Ryan was one of them. I think he’s a phenomenal talent. I don’t think I’ve worked with an ECD in London, here, or anywhere that I’ve been that impressed with. He’s a phenomenal planner, very strategic, a great creative mind, and as ECDs go he’s not bad to work with either,” he adds with a smile.
The two will jointly lead both offices, with Dubai’s team of 30 now including Robin Smith, the former regional creative director for the MENA region at Geometry Global. Top of their agenda will be increasing the office’s digital and in-house digital production capabilities, as well as strengthening its senior management, planning and specialist design teams. The agency is also looking for new premises and has already appointed a new creative team and a chief growth officer.
“There’s a great foundation in Abu Dhabi and what we can do now is come down here, use the foundation Expression has in Dubai, and start saying, ‘right, let’s take our philosophy of brutal simplicity, let’s take me and Ryan together again, let’s put Robin Smith in Dubai, and kick up a little bit of a fuss’.
“There’s a huge opportunity in Dubai. The environment’s right coming out of the recession, the industry is ready with some of the old guard leaving and some of the changeovers we’ve seen recently, and the M&C Saatchi brand is doing phenomenally well globally. We have some very big, aggressive plans for Dubai and it’s backed up by Moray and the rest of the group. And that’s very nice for me, because with iris I was very much left to my own devices and it was always a little bit of a struggle to be honest. Whereas with M&C it’s very much about support and how can we continue the growth of the brand.”
Is he proud of what he’s achieved? “Yes,” he replies. “But on a personal note, what we’ve done is never one man’s success. When the money is transferred we’ve got something that we’re sharing with our staff and the people who have helped us along the way. It hasn’t been one person, it’s been many people, many clients who have put a lot of trust in us since the very beginning. There have been a lot of people behind the Expression brand over the years and it’s a big thank you to all of them.”