Seisser changes orbit at Saatchi

This was pretty interesting, so going to post a good portion of the article in this blog entry:

“Early one October morning, Tod Seisser, in London for the production of Saatchi & Saatchi’s first campaign for Beck’s beer, received an excited phone call. Richard Pels, an executive creative director on the New York agency’s Delta Air Lines account, had an idea for a spot celebrating John Glenn in orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery.”

Seisser appreciated Pels’ enthusiasm, knew what it was like to be seized by creative inspiration. After nearly a year on the job, Seisser said he was pleased with the ads his 70-plus creative staff has produced–whether for cereal, aspirin or beer–and he boasts of an agency without “creative ghettos” that aspires to award-winning work.  “I’m amazed and proud of how far we’ve come,” says Seisser.

Seisser himself credits his management success to Paul Schulman, the former general manager at Wells BDDP, who joined Saatchi in April as manager of creative resources, tackling production budgets, recruitment and scheduling.

“Seisser manages by giving direction and not by sitting through every last detail. He doesn’t look over your shoulder,” says executive creative director Roger Rowe, a 10-year Saatchi vet partnered with Pels, an award-winning copywriter and key Seisser hire, on the $100 million Delta account. Indeed, thanks to the Rowe-Pels alliance, the agency has produced five Delta spots–some, like Glenn, with a short shelf life–while developing the next phase of the campaign, due to break this spring. The new ads will retain the familiar chorus of “Adiemus,” Christine Lahti’s voiceover and the “On top of the world” tagline, sources say, but their focus is still being hashed out.

From his first day at Saatchi, Seisser has encouraged open dialogue among staffers.  Seisser’s macro touch, coupled with Schulman’s managing the less glamorous aspects of the job, has enabled him to get closer to clients and push for more entertaining advertising. Even conservative clients are listening, owing to Seisser’s frank but accessible approach. Yet a key question remains: How much can one man influence a behemoth like Saatchi?

Last January, Seisser said he was there for the “long haul.” A year later, he feels the same way: “I want the buzz on the street to build. I want this to be a place people who aren’t here want to work at, and people who are here want to stay at.”

New York Magazine and Grok

There’s a lot of agencies out there. Some old, some new. It’s the new ones that are particularly worth taking note of. No great surprise that Tod Seisser is a founding partner of one of the agencies worth watching. I find it particularly interesting that they’ve chosen to use the Heinlein term “Grok” as the name. A book I like particularly as a younger lad.

New York Magazine has taken notice of Tod’s work. But then there’s quite a bit of stuff out there. You can find Shakespearean flourishes in some of Tod’s work. Definitely New York has been an interesting place to be since the economic downturn of late. However, it seems to be bouncing back nicely. I think Tod is part of that rebound.

 

Bar Mitzvahs and Advertising Executives

I find it heartwarming that Tod went to Jay Taub’s son’s Bar Mitzvah,  Friendship born of a partnership. Mr. Taub and Mr. Seisser were both executives in New York. Clearly family is important to Tod Seisser.  ”I don’t want to do ‘Mr. Whipple,’ ” Mr. Seisser affirmed from his freelancer’s desk at Backer Spielvogel Bates. Mr. Taub, from his freelance outpost at Ogilvy & Mather, was equally emphatic. ”I don’t want to do ‘Ring around the collar,’ ” he said  Last year, after winning the Playboy magazine and Bridgestone tire accounts, Tod and Jay were both justifiably happy.

Mr. Seisser, an art director, was mentioned in the Masters of American Comics book

Tod and Jay felt it was irrelevant whether they worked together again. ‘They just want to do really great and wonderful work.  Mr. Seisser can be nostalgic, but is always forward looking. He takes life lightly.

Tod has a way of looking at life, which expresses itself in his work, such as this Cheerios piece:

Finally, even

Media and Advertising

There’s an interesting new company, which has been formed Tod Seisser and Steve Landsberg, both pictured below:

Tod has been involved in all sorts of interesting businesses and hobbies. There are a whole variety for YouTube clips that demonstrate various things Tod has noticed and incorporated. Something tells me Seisser is poised to ride quite an interesting wave. I find myself particularly intrigued by the comic art he’s attracted to. It’s definitely not the run of the mill things I read as a kid. If Tod were to ever won a comic art store in the physical world (Seisser does have online galleries), I’d be there in a heartbeat.  This article has some mention of Tod’s collection, so apparently these pieces haven’t gone unnoticed.

I’ve been looking at various advertisements lately, and have found there’s a lot of creativity out there. I’m realizing Tod’s Seisser’s interests and talents go well beyond Comic Art. His take on Beck’s beer was particularly noteworthy, lovely and interesting. If you haven’t seen Tod’s work in this realm, check out this commercial  posted to YouTube. I’ve included it here:

This is pretty compelling stuff from a communications standpoint. It seems like just a simple clip, but its very difficult to fully appreciate just how many hours Seisser and others probably put into this.