Saatchi Buys ThompsonMurray
Saatchi & Saatchi has bought retail agency ThompsonMurray to be the centerpiece of an in-store marketing network to launch in the U.S. and Europe.
ThompsonMurray handles Wal-Mart campaigns for several packaged goods companies. It becomes the headquarters of Saatchi & Saatchi X, the new network designed to serve as an in-store marketing resource for sister agencies under parent Publicis Groupe, according to news reports. The goal is to bring ad creative to life in the store, and influence shopper decisions at shelf.
ThompsonMurray CEO Andy Murray becomes CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi X, which begins with offices in New York City and Cincinnati, and reportedly plans to add offices in Minneapolis, London, Geneva, Sydney and Toronto. Murray reports to Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide CEO Kevin Roberts, who also becomes chairman of the new network.
Murray co-founded Fayetteville, AR-based ThompsonMurray in 1999 when his business, BrandWorks Consulting, merged with ad shop Thompson Earnhart & Associates. Murray is a Procter & Gamble veteran who worked on P&G’s Wal-Mart sales team in the early 1990s.
Co-marketing veteran Mel Korn, now CEO of Publicis Collaborative Marketing Worldwide, becomes vice chairman of Saatch & Saatchi X; ThompsonMurray’s chief creative officer, Sean Womack, becomes creative director.
