Pat Fallon to depart from worldwide president role

Pat Fallon is relinquishing the day-to-day control of his eponymous agency network as part of a restructure triggered by the alignment of the agency with Saatchi & Saatchi.

The agency has started a search for a North American president to run its Minneapolis office. Fallon, the agency’s worldwide chairman, will become emeritus chairman from January next year.

Publicis Groupe will this week announce the creation of a holding company to be called Saatchi & Saatchi-Fallon (SSF). The UK group will be run by Fallon London founding partner Robert Senior, while Saatchi’s worldwide chief executive Kevin Roberts will head SSF in the US. Senior, who will become chief executive of the new holding company, will report to Roberts.

Insiders suggest Senior will sidestep conflict issues by focusing on clients with which he already has a relationship. It is thought he will continue to work on Fallon client Orange, rather than Saatchi’s T-Mobile business, but sources say he will take a hands-on role with Toyota because he is not close to the Skoda account at Fallon.

OMD Europe managing director Simon Francis will become chief executive of Saatchi EMEA and current European chief Jim O’Mahony will be handed responsibility for the rest of the world, including Russia and China, as part of the restructure.

Pat Fallon founded Fallon McElligott Rice with four partners in 1981. He sold a 51% stake in the agency to Scali McCabe Sloves in 1986, but bought back the agency in 1993. Fallon London was launched in 1998 and was bought by Publicis in 2000.