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THE BUILDING 2: GO OUT
These days many people work from home. There are substantial organisations with no offices at all, so what happens when you meet the clients? You go out.
The idea This is a story told in 1981 at an Advertising Association event for young trainees, by Lord Bell, the advertising man who described himself as “the ampersand between Saatchi & Saatchi”. When his advertising agency first moved into their London offices, they had a huge, smart reception area with comfortable chairs for the clients. Everyone else in the whole team was packed into one room behind it. When clients visited, Tim Bell said that he and the team would arrange to meet at midday and sweep them straight out for lunch, after giving them the impression that they had an equally swish office behind the door that led from the reception area. For a big meeting, the team would generously offer to travel to the clients’ offices. Once the agency could afford to expand they took more space, and started to invite clients into their own building, which, by that time, was as large and luxurious as the clients had always imagined. To avoid the dissonance between their brand values and the facts, Saatchi & Saatchi carefully managed the situation until the two sides reflected each other perfectly. They pulled it off so well
114 • 100 GREAT BRANDING IDEAS
100 Great Branding Ideas 14dec.indd 114
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