WPP boss off the couch, and telling TBWA where to go
To London, and Advertising Week Europe, where practicing psychotherapist (and adland headhunter) Kathleen Saxton was the intriguing choice to quiz WPP boss Mark Read on stage.
Sadly, the control freaks in the WPP PR team didn’t like the psychiatrist’s coach connotations, Advertising Week boss Matt Scheckner told the audience.
He revealed: “In 28 global editions of Advertising Week, this will be our first live therapy session. We had a couch, and one of Mark’s people saw it and went quickly ‘Get rid of the couch, get rid of the couch’.”
No couch required: Saxton and Read
And the Impact Makers Stage saw more than one revelation.
Later R/GA founder Bob Greenberg revealed all was not always cordial with rival agencies.
Discussing buzzwords like transformation and disruption, he revealed: “I was sued once by TBWA for using the term. They thought they had copyright for it because they wrote a book called Disruption. Unfortunately everybody was using the term, so I told them where to go.”
Greenberg: Told TBWA where to go
