M+C Saatchi appoints EMEA lead

Global consultancy M+C Saatchi Consulting has appointed Sammi Marwan as managing director for EMEA as it looks to accelerate growth across the region.

Sammi joins from sports and entertainment technology platform Greenfly, where he served as chief operating officer.

He brings 15 years’ experience spanning creative and marketing agencies, media, entertainment, sport, technology and consulting, with previous senior roles at Endeavor, 160over90 and IMG.

His career also includes positions with FT Strategies, BCG and EY.

In his new role, Sammi will lead M+C Saatchi Consulting’s 50-strong EMEA team, with responsibility for regional strategy, revenue growth, profitability, new business and client retention.

He will also oversee the regional expansion of the consultancy’s Return on Cultural Power framework, developed with Oxford Saïd Business School, while working across M+C Saatchi’s wider creative, media, data, digital and strategy capabilities.

Sammi said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining M+C Saatchi. 

“The group has spent the last two years repositioning around Cultural Power and validating that thinking with Oxford Saïd. 

“As Return on Cultural Power moves into its next phase, I have the opportunity to help shape how we take it to market and prove its value commercially as well as intellectually.

“There’s also a significant opportunity to grow M+C Saatchi’s position in consulting, building on the strength of the brand and the breadth of expertise across the group. 

“EMEA gives us a strong foundation, with some of the group’s longest-standing client relationships, and I’m looking forward to getting RoCP into the hands of clients and building on that momentum across the region.”

Sammi will report to global chief executive Rhonda Hiatt.

Rhonda added: “Every conversation I have with leaders in EMEA lands in the same place: they know culture is driving their growth, but they can’t measure it or act on it fast enough. 

“That is exactly the job Sammi is here to do.

“He brings over a decade of commercial leadership both inside and outside of agencies, building and scaling consulting businesses where he owned the outcomes and growth agenda, and that is the mindset Return on Cultural Power demands. 

“We’re so pleased to welcome a new leader who will be driving measurable results for our clients across the region.”

Karen Boswell, global chief executive, experience and media at M+C Saatchi, added: “We built Return on Cultural Power with Oxford Saïd to close the measurement gap between long-term brand building and short-term performance. 

“But IP only matters when it changes how clients make decisions.

“Sammi’s appointment is the group putting that IP to work where it counts, in market, under a leader with the commercial rigour to hold it accountable to real outcomes.”

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