Kevin Roberts (businessman) explained

Kevin Roberts
Birth Date:20 October 1949
Birth Place:Lancaster, England
Education:Lancaster Royal Grammar School
Occupation:Businessman
Chairman, Red Rose Consulting

Kevin John Roberts (born 1949) is a British businessman. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi from 1997 to 2014. In September 2006, Saatchi & Saatchi won a US$430 million JC Penney contract because of the idea of lovemarks, which was invented and promoted by Roberts. Roberts became executive chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi in 2015, then non-executive chairman in 2016.[1] He resigned in August 2016 to focus on the marketing and leadership consultancy he founded in 1995, Red Rose Consulting.

Early life and career (1949–86)

Roberts was born and raised in Lancaster in the northwest of England. He was educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School in the 1960s. He then became an assistant brand manager for Mary Quant Cosmetics in 1969.[2] Roberts was later promoted to a brand manager.[3]

From 1969 to 1986, Roberts worked as international new products manager at Gillette, then group marketing manager at Procter & Gamble (P&G), then regional vice president at Pepsi Cola, Middle East in 1982.[4]

Executive career (1987–96)

In 1987, Roberts was appointed to the first "chief" role in his career, as president and CEO of Pepsi Cola, Canada. While at Pepsi Canada, Roberts executed a publicity stunt after a keynote speech to a group of Pepsi Canada employees, bottlers, and the media. Roberts had a Coke vending machine rolled onto the stage while he was speaking. As he finished his speech, he reached down, picked up a machine gun, and blasted the Coke machine.[5] "[Roberts] meticulously planned the spectacle, borrowing a gun from a squad of police officers and rigging the vending machine so that he had to fire only one blank to set off a dazzling rat-a-tat-tat."[6]

From 1989 to 1997, Roberts was director and chief operating officer (COO) of alcoholic drinks company Lion Nathan, based in New Zealand.[7]

CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi (1997–2016)

In 1997, Roberts was appointed to the role of CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi.[7] In 1997, Saatchi & Saatchi was in "deep trouble, with morale at an all-time low."[8] Roberts was advised to restructure the business drastically by bringing in his own people and moving current people around. Instead, Roberts brought in and moved nobody for two years.[9]

In September 2006, Saatchi & Saatchi won a US$430 million JC Penney contract because of the idea of lovemarks, invented and promoted by Roberts.

In the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours, Roberts was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to business and the community.[10]

On 30 July 2016, Roberts was placed on leave[11] by Publicis Groupe, after an interview[12] with Business Insider in the wake of controversial comments[13] about gender diversity in the advertising business, stating that "the fucking debate is all over. This is a diverse world, we are in a world where we need, like we’ve never needed before, integration, collaboration, connectivity, and creativity" and judging that women lacked ambition for top leadership roles.

"It is for the gravity of these statements that Kevin Roberts has been asked to take a leave of absence from Publicis Groupe effective immediately", stated Groupe Chief Executive Maurice Lévy.[14] Roberts resigned from his position on 3 August, with effect from 1 September 2016.[15] [16] [17] [18]

Consultant and coach (2016-present)

Since leaving Publicis Groupe in 2016, Roberts' main role has been counselling and coaching business leaders and employees on leadership, marketing and creative thinking through his company Red Rose Consulting, founded in 1995,[19] [20] clients include Freemantle,[21] AIA,[22] Sogrape,[23] Coordinate Advertising,[24] and Transmed MEA.

Roberts was chairman of My Food Bag (2015[25] -2019) and chairman of cricket company CricHQ (2016[26] -2018) which is based in New Zealand.

Roberts was chairman of Beattie (2017-2019), the creative communications group.[27] [28]

In 2017 Roberts became an independent director of the UK grocery chain Booths[29] and chairman of English lakes-based company Herdy.[30]

Publications

Positions

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: KR Connect – Blog of Kevin Roberts, Chairman, Saatchi & Saatchi: 1997 . 22 December 2015 .
  2. Kevin Roberts. Lovemarks: the future beyond brands p.13
  3. Kevin Roberts. Lovemarks: the future beyond brands p.14
  4. Saatchi & Saatchi Media Press Kit about Kevin Roberts. p.1
  5. Kevin Roberts. Lovemarks: the future beyond brands p.17
  6. Ono, Yumiko . Saatchi's CEO Roberts Sees Romance With Core Clients . The Wall Street Journal. 11 June 1997 .
  7. Web site: Kevin Roberts – Personally Speaking Bureau. 28 April 2016.
  8. Kevin Roberts. Lovemarks: the future beyond brands p.20
  9. Kevin Roberts. Lovemarks: the future beyond brands p.21
  10. Web site: Queen's Birthday honours list 2013 . 3 June 2013 . Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet . 18 June 2018.
  11. https://www.wsj.com/articles/publicis-places-executive-kevin-roberts-on-leave-following-controversial-gender-remarks-1469934948 "Publicis Places Executive Kevin Roberts on Leave Following Controversial Gender Remarks"
  12. News: O'Reilly . Lara . 30 July 2016 . Saatchi & Saatchi chairman Kevin Roberts thinks the gender diversity in advertising debate is 'over' . Business Insider . 13 March 2022.
  13. News: O'Reilly . Lara . 4 August 2016 . Saatchi & Saatchi chairman Kevin Roberts has resigned following his controversial gender diversity comments . Business Insider . 13 March 2022.
  14. Web site: 30 July 2016 . Publicis Groupe Statement . Publicis Groupe.
  15. News: 3 August 2016 . Saatchi Chairman Kevin Roberts Resigns After Gender Comments . Ad Age . 13 March 2022.
  16. Web site: Saatchi & Saatchi chairman resigns over sexist remarks. 3 August 2016. CNN.com.
  17. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/aug/03/saatchi-saatchi-boss-kevin-roberts-resigns-amid-sexism-row "Saatchi & Saatchi boss resigns amid sexism row"
  18. News: Why Saatchi boss Kevin Roberts shouldn't have resigned over sexism. The Telegraph.
  19. http://www.hillaryinstitute.com/hillary-summit/ "Hillary Summit International Board Members"
  20. https://www.amazon.com/Kevin-Roberts/e/B004MWI0XQ "Kevin Roberts Author Profile"
  21. Web site: 27 November 2017. Magic in the Room. 14 October 2021. Red Rose Consulting.
  22. News: 2 October 2019. Making Happy Choices. 14 October 2021. Kevin Roberts - Red Rose Consulting . Roberts . Kevin .
  23. Web site: 3 April 2017. Making Happy Choices. KR Connect Blog.
  24. Web site: 2 July 2020. Learnings from the World's Greatest Ad man. 14 October 2021. Coordinate.
  25. News: Meadows. Richard. 9 March 2015. Kevin Roberts joins My Food Bag. Stuff. 14 October 2021.
  26. News: Wilson. Lizzie. Kevin Roberts to become Chair of CricHQ. 2017-01-16.
  27. Web site: KEVIN ROBERTS JOINS BEATTIE AS CHAIRMAN. 2017-01-16. beattiegroup.com.
  28. News: Sweney. Mark. 2017-01-10. Former Saatchi boss returns after sexism row with new chair role. en-GB. The Guardian. 2017-01-16. 0261-3077.
  29. Web site: E.H.BOOTH & CO.,LIMITED. 14 October 2021. GOV.UK.
  30. News: Crawford. Sue. 10 November 2017. Global ad guru takes up Herdy hot seat. In Cumbria. 14 October 2021.
  31. Web site: Kevin Roberts: Former CEO and Chairman at Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Joins RYSE Asset Management as CEO In Residence. 12 August 2022. RYSE Asset Management.
  32. Web site: Our Mentors and Experts. 14 October 2021. Oxford Foundry.
  33. http://www.waikato.ac.nz/news/archive.shtml?article=34 Saatchi & Saatchi CEO receives Honorary Doctorate
  34. http://www.iun.ch/iun/en/en-en/file.cfm?contentid=176 University Newsletter 2009/2010
  35. Web site: Kevin Roberts honorary graduation - Lancaster University. Lancaster. University.
  36. http://www.upc.edu.pe/acerca-de-upc/logros-upc/actividades-institucionales/profesores-honorarios/2008 Kevin Roberts - CEO Worldwide de Saatchi & Saatchi
  37. Web site: Honorary Professor of Innovation and Creativity - The University of Auckland.
  38. Web site: FT.com.
  39. Web site: Global marketing leader, advertising influencer, and author of Lovemarks: the Future Beyond Brands, Kevin Roberts is the first to receive }} professorship in leadership and innovation by Peter B. Gustavson School of Business ]. 25 March 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151208102057/https://www.uvic.ca/gustavson/about/about/news/news/kevin-roberts-to-receive-honourary-professorship-in-leadership-and-innovation-by-gustavson-school-of-business.php . 8 December 2015.
  40. Web site: Sustainable Enterprise Professor spans the globe - Scoop News.
  41. Web site: Cambridge University Business School names Saatchi & Saatchi head as first CEO-in-Residenc....

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kevin Roberts (businessman)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.