Conflicting Accounts

The intriguing story of two brothers, Maurice and Charles Saatchi who managed to build arguably the most significant advertising agency in the world, Saatchi & Saatchi Co Ltd, and then plot its downfall. Charles, the elder creative genius behind the agency (at one time he controlled half of the modern art market) and Maurice, the charmer with questionable management skills, were behind the notably successful campaigns which helped British Airways to become 'the world's favourite airline', propelled Margaret Thatcher into power with the memorable, powerful slogan 'Labour Isn't Working' and successfully assisted the Health Education Council to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. A string of takeovers in the mid-80s kept the agency growing and a successful invasion of Madison Avenue allowed Saatchi to claim the highly sought-after prize of top spot in the global advertising industry. However, by 1989 a combination of a slump in demand for advertising, rising debts for past acquisitions and high costs for ill-advised forays into consulting services, tipped the agency into the red, eventually culminating in Maurice being ousted as chairman in December 1994 by the board and institutional investors. Humiliated, but not down, Maurice established a new agency New Saatchi (later renamed Cordiant) with his brother and three former Saatchi executives to cripple to old '& Co Ltd', but not without a string of legal battles, account deflections and staffing problems. Kevin Goldman has paid much attention to detail to make this fascinating account of the Saatchis read like a modern business horror story. (Kirkus UK)