Saatchi Group has a rough ride

The latest advertising agency league table, compiled for Marketing Week by Register-MEAL, shows that two of the three Saatchi Group agencies had a rough ride in the year ending last September.

“Billings” for Bates Dorland and CME KHBB dropped by 5.7 per cent to £151.33m and 10.2 per cent to £48.22m respectively. CME KHBB resigned the £8.6m Colmans of Norwich account in July and lost the £3m Saab GB account in February last year and the £5m Bristol Myers Mum deodorant account in March.

Ironically, the main agency, which has been racked by resignations and defections since Maurice Saatchi left (MW January 6), performed much better.

The main London agency, top of the table, piled on an extra £50m in “billings” (adjusted ratecard expenditure) in the third quarter to reach £293.97m, an increase on the same period the previous year of 21.3 per cent. Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising also won Marketing Week’s agency of the year for 1994 – voted by clients – ahead of the previous incumbent, J. Walter Thompson (MW December 2).

Ogilvy & Mather stayed in second place behind Saatchi, adding 21.1 per cent to “billings” in that year, to reach £229.76m. Abbott Mead Vickers. BBDO, however, climbed from fifth to third, with an increase of 35.2 per cent to £225.76m. It overtook JWT, which dropped to fourth place with £223.4m – ironically with an increase of 21.7 per cent.

Other losers include Lowe Howard Spink (9.9 per cent), which lost the £6m Wander Foods account in September, and the £1.2m Zanussi account in March last year. EURO RSCG (down 5.6 per cent) lost the £4m Typhoo Tea account in January last year.