Bob Seelert, chairman of the global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, will visit Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications on Wednesday, Oct. 28. He will speak at 7 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse 3. His talk is free and open to the public. Parking is available in SU pay lots. The event will be covered via live blogging at newhousebeta.syr.edu.
Seelert is the author of “Start With The Answer” (Wiley, 2009), a back-to-basics primer for aspiring leaders in business, government and education. During his 40-year career, he has gained a reputation as a turnaround expert, reviving the fortunes of businesses and brands in the United States and internationally.
Seelert attended Harvard College and Harvard Business School before embarking on a 23-year career with General Foods Corp., where he moved from sales and marketing to general management to the position of president and CEO of Worldwide Coffee and International Foods.
He went on to lead turnaround operations at Topco, a grocery industry co-operative, and Kayser Roth, a leading U.S. manufacturer of leg wear that operated as a joint venture of the Blackstone Group and Wasserstein-Perella.
In 1995, he was recruited as CEO of Cordiant, the U.K.-based holding company that had been formed following the shareholder revolt at the London-based Saatchi & Saatchi. He became chairman in 1997, moved the headquarters to New York and, with CEO Kevin Roberts, rebuilt and refocused Saatchi & Saatchi as a potent ideas company working with many of the world’s leading corporations and brands.
In 2000, Seelert oversaw a merger of Saatchi & Saatchi with the Publicis Groupe of France at a share price 450 percent higher than the starting level. The company has improved its financial performance every year since; 2008 was best year in the history of the company.
Seelert is still actively involved in the strategy and management of Saatchi & Saatchi as non-executive chairman.
For more information about his talk, contact Brian Sheehan at (315) 443-9247 or bjsheeha@syr.edu.
