Archive Site 1997–2016
Kevin Roberts
What’s Love Got to do With It?
Speech
A keynote address to the World Magazine Congress. Naysayers who prophesize the demise of the print media miss the point. In the Attention Economy, when all communication must strive to make an emotional connection with consumers, the narrowcast and intimate nature of the magazine will become more valuable than ever.
Ahead of the Game – CA Magazine (PDF)
Interview
“People will contribute better if you praise them, not kick their butt” and other wisdom from a comprehensive profile in the magazine for chartered accountants.
The New Consumer
Speech
An address to the VISA EU Member Conference. The banking environment of the last thirty years has been obliterated. Consumers now hold the power to drive change through the choices they make. Banks must respond with a new attitude if they are not to succeed.
New Rules
Speech
A keynote address to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland Annual Conference. The key to wealth creation today lies with the intangible – ideas and relationships rule supreme. Accountants have negotiated the transition to the Age of Ideas better than many other industries, but the challenges of change continue.
Saatchi’s Kiwi Chief Tops World – The New Zealand Herald (PDF)
Interview
An article in the New Zealand Herald regarding the Outstanding Advertising Agency Executive award.
Run with the Bulls – The Bulletin (PDF)
Interview
Australia’s leading news magazine reports the world’s leading sports organizations hold the secret to running successful companies.
Globe-trotting Ad Guy – New York Post (PDF)
Interview
An invigorating conversation about Saatchi & Saatchi getting paid for ideas, language, art, travel and sport.
Ad Shops’ Job is Passion – Advertising Age (PDF)
Interview
Emotion, passion and ideas are what clients need from creative agencies, and no one else in the supplier mix is capable of providing these essentials.
Making Magic
Speech
A speech to the European Advertising Agencies Association Conference in Budapest. Kevin Roberts’ response to an address by Mr Niall Fitzgerald, CEO of Unilever, to the 1997 EAAA conference, in which Mr Fitzgerald questioned the ability of advertising agencies to lead interactive marketing strategies. Building brand equity, says Kevin Roberts, is still the main event, and the foundation of long term business success.
Corporate Renegade Heads Up Saatchi & Saatchi – Variety (PDF)
Interview
Where do ideas come from? From meetings? Plane rides? Not likely. A wide ride through creativity, music, putting the feet up on the desk.
Brand China, Shanghai
Speech
An address to the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. Brand China is Saatchi & Saatchi’s vision for making the “Made in China” label into a premium global brand. The latest consumer insights reveal that the Brand China values outlined in this speech match certain pervasive trends in Western consumer values.
New Zealand on the Edge
Speech
A keynote address to the NZ Tourism Industry Association Conference. New Zealand’s tourism marketing needs to excite the global imagination with new ideas, metaphors and concepts of the nation and its people. The idea is boldly simple: New Zealand is an adventurous, innovative, creative nation because it exists on the extreme edge of Western Civilization.
Digital or Dinosaur
Speech
An address to the Jupiter Online Advertising Forum in New York. Great advertising should build outstanding connections between consumers and brands. This gloves-off presentation to a savvy Silicon Valley / Alley audience confronts both the “cooler than cool” attitude of the start-ups and the “you ain’t a billion-dollar business yet” attitude of the establishment.
Antarctica – Anything is Possible
Speech
A Market Driven Perspective of Two Antarctic Futures. Antarctica, the most isolated and unspoilt place on earth, faces the prospect of a commercial future. This presentation to an audience of Antarctic opinion formers and policy makers presents a bold challenge to harness the considerable communication power of commerce to build Brand Antarctica in a way that fosters responsible attitudes among the world’s population.
