Kevin Roberts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kevin Roberts
Kevin Roberts
CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi
Born 1949
Lancaster, England

Kevin Roberts (born 1949) has been the Chief Executive Officer Worldwide of the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi since 1997. Roberts is a highly-regarded figure in the advertising industry due to his deep insight and creative mind. In September 2006, Saatchi & Saatchi won a US$430 million JC Penney contract because of the idea of lovemarks, which was invented and promoted by Roberts.

Contents

[edit] Early life and career (1949-86)

Roberts was born and raised in Lancaster in the industrial northwest of England. He was educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School in the 1960s. He left school at 16 to become an assistant brand manager for Mary Quant Cosmetics in 1969. He got the job because he had learnt French and Spanish at school, and Quant was moving into Europe.[1] Roberts rose quickly to become a brand manager when his marketing manager was promoted and Roberts famously said, "I'll do the job for half the salary of the previous guy for the next six months. If you think I'm worth it, then you can pay me what the job deserves."[2]

From 1969 to 1986, Roberts took on roles with more and more responsibilities from Brand Manager of Mary Quant Cosmetics to International New Products Manager at Gillette to Group Marketing Manager at Procter & Gamble (P&G) to Regional Vice President at Pepsi Cola, Middle East in 1982.

Roberts was particularly fond of his time at P&G. Looking back, Roberts says, "To be a P&G Brand Manager in the 1970s was to be King of the World. I got to work in amazing places like Sana’a, Al Ain, Casablanca. I found out everything important I know about people, business and marketing at P&G. The company is Saatchi & Saatchi’s largest client today. They always do what’s right. I love P&G. Always have." [3]

The Middle East experience was formative for Roberts’ in learning to connect with consumers through emotion. “In Arab countries you make friends for life” he says. “The people were genuine, emotional, family-focussed, hospitable. Without Western style barriers, new ideas got through quicker. You could make a difference fast.” [4]

In 1987, Roberts was ready to take the next big step in his career.

[edit] Executive career (1987-96)

In 1987, Roberts was appointed to the first "Chief" role in his career, as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Pepsi Cola, Canada. While at Pepsi Canada, Roberts notably executed a publicity stunt after a keynote speech to a group of Pepsi Canada employees, bottlers, and the media. Roberts had a Coke vending machine rolled onto the stage while he was speaking. As he finished his speech, he reached down, picked up a machine gun, and blasted the Coke machine. [5] This stunt earned Roberts the nickname Rambo. "[Roberts] meticulously planned the spectacle, borrowing a gun from a squad of police officers and rigging the vending machine so that he had to fire only one blank to set off a dazzling rat-a-tat-tat." [6]

In 1989, Roberts moved on to become Director and Chief Operating Officer of Lion Nathan. He held this position until 1997.

[edit] Current Role (1997-)

In 1997, Roberts was appointed the role of Chief Executive Officer Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi. In 1997, Saatchi & Saatchi was in "deep trouble, with morale at an all-time low." [7] Roberts was advised to restructure the business drastically by bringing Roberts's own people in and moving current people around. Instead, Roberts bought in nobody and moved nobody for two years. [8] Against all odds, Roberts was able to get things in Saatchi & Saatchi moving again in one year. Roberts then started the process to make Saatchi & Saatchi into one of the best advertising agencies around the world.

In September 2006, Saatchi & Saatchi won a US$430 million JC Penney contract because of the idea of lovemarks, invented and promoted by Roberts.

[edit] Citizen of the world

Roberts was born in England and worked there for many years. He also likely lived in Canada from 1987-89 while he was President and CEO of Pepsi Cola, Canada. He has also been in senior executive positions managing Middle East, Africa, and Europe which means he likely has lived in some or all of these countries and locations as well. In 1989, he and his family moved to Auckland, New Zealand which he still calls home. [9] Although many consider Roberts to be a New Zealander, he may be better described as a citizen of the world.

[edit] Quotations

  • "Ideas are the currency of the future." [10]
  • "Brands are running out of juice." [1]

[edit] Personal life

In 1989 Roberts moved with wife Rowena, two daughters and two sons to New Zealand where they still live today.

In the Roberts 2006 Q&A "The Big Ask 2006"[11], Roberts gave the following Questions and Answers:

3. What's the world's most precious resource?

The people

4. What piece of technology has helped most to make your life easier?

The iPod

11. Google or Yahoo?

Yahoo

33. Which client would you like to have that you don't have already?

Wal-Mart (note: this answer was given before Saatchi & Saatchi took itself out of competition for a Wal-mart contract due to their contract with JC Penney)

68. Best speech you've ever heard?

Lee Scott on sustainability.

[edit] Books written by Roberts

  • Peak Performing Organisations - Lessons for Business from the World's Leading Sports Organisations, 2000, by Clive Gilson, Mike Pratt, Kevin Roberts, and Ed Weymes (ISBN 1-58799-150-0)
  • Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, 2004
  • Sisomo: The Future on Screen, 2005 (ISBN 1-57687-268-8)
  • Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands (Expended Edition), 2006, (ISBN 1-57687-270-X)
  • The Lovemarks Effect: Winning in the Consumer Revolution, (expected published date: 2006 Nov), (ISBN 1-57687-267-X)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kevin Roberts. Lovemarks: the future beyond brands p.13
  2. ^ Kevin Roberts. Lovemarks: the future beyond brands p.14
  3. ^ Saatchi & Saatchi Media Press Kit about Kevin Roberts. p.1
  4. ^ Saatchi & Saatchi Media Press Kit about Kevin Roberts. p.1
  5. ^ Kevin Roberts. Lovemarks: the future beyond brands p.17
  6. ^ Ono, Yumiko (June 11, 1997). "Saatchi's CEO Roberts Sees Romance With Core Clients". The Wall Street Journal. 
  7. ^ Kevin Roberts. Lovemarks: the future beyond brands p.20
  8. ^ Kevin Roberts. Lovemarks: the future beyond brands p.21
  9. ^ Kevin Roberts. Lovemarks: the future beyond brands p.18
  10. ^ Kevin Roberts. "Ideas Manifesto" 15 September, 1998 . Article originally accessed with www.saatchikevin.com/media/ideas.html The article is no longer directly available on the website.
  11. ^ Link http://www.saatchikevin.com/livingit/qanda2006.html accessed on Oct 21m 2006. 1:31PM MST

[edit] External links

[edit] Videos

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../k/e/v/Kevin_Roberts_54e4.html"