Saatchi & Saatchi 2025: A Year Of Revitalisation And Fresh Opportunity

This year Saatchi & Saatchi has been showing off the rock star energy that made it the agency even non-adland civilians know. It is therefore fitting that the iconic slogan "Nothing Is Impossible" has been revived.

With a creative team led by Franki Goodwin as CCO, and the appointment of Sam Wise as CSO following the departure of Richard Huntington, the agency has put out an array of top tier work in 2025.

This is testament to the vision of CEO Claire Hollands, who in her first year at the agency, is instilling a company-wide vision of breakthrough creativity.

Claire Hollands, Saatchi & Saatchi CEO, on the agency's 2025:

What three words would you use to describe 2025?

Nothing Is Impossible. 

Talk us through some of your agency’s highlights this year?

In 2025, our ambition for our work was to be the reference - and we have done that in spades. 

We’ve made work that is category defining and changes behaviour, including ‘Do Energy Differently’ with OVO, alongside our pro bono campaigns ‘More Ball Games’ with London Sport - which worked to help unlock sport, play and physical activity for young people - and ‘The Fatal Question’ with StreetDoctors, supporting the charity’s vital work to change dangerous misconceptions among young people around knife crime. 

With our longstanding partners EE, the work went from strength to strength as we continued to explore the real milestones and challenges the nation faces - and the role connectivity has to play. Highlight campaigns including ‘Safer SIMs’ - supporting parents and children to navigate the world of smartphones and the internet, safely - and our first Christmas campaign, ‘Hosting & Guesting’. 

With John Lewis, the work became even more integrated and connected. We celebrated 100 years of John Lewis’s Never Knowingly Undersold commitment with ‘Tableau’ in September, and launched our third Christmas campaign - ‘Where Love Lives’ - in November, which over 30 million people watched during launch week. 

It’s been a banger of a year, and the metal reflects it. From being shortlisted on EE and BHF for Marketing Society brand of the year to multiple wins at Cannes Lions and the British Arrows, our work has been - and will always be - at the heart of everything we do.

What one thing are you proudest of this year?

Saatchi’s founding positioning of ‘Nothing Is Impossible’ - one of the most iconic slogans of all time - had lost its way. This year, we brought it back and imbued it with new meaning and a commitment to realise impossible ambitions for our clients and our people. It’s created a shared purpose, focus and values for the agency, which have reignited us all. 

And what’s been your biggest challenge? 

Breathing new energy and meaning into an agency with a name that everyone has heard of. We’re making work that supports evolution and unlocks growth for our clients at a critical time for their businesses. We’re investing heavily in our insights to ensure we understand our clients' customer bases better than ever before, and we’re baking integration into everything we do. It’s important that that’s what we stand for.

What are you most looking forward to in 2026?

Walking into an agency I love where the talent is top notch and the ambition for next year is palpable. 

And what one change would you most like to see in our industry next year?

Confidence. We’re vital growth partners for our clients, driving them into new categories and markets, and creating demand for their products and services. I’d love to see us own our value more as an industry.

Creative Salon on Saatchi & Saatchi's 2025:

In her role as CEO Hollands has continued to champion creativity and showcase Saatchi & Saatchi's versatile capabilities. Her plan is cemented by the appointment of Oli Richards as chief growth officer in June. He made the move from Beyond (formerly the Beyond Collective) where he was CMO for four years.

This year Saatchi & Saatchi also celebrated its 35th New Creators' Showcase and put a special spotlight on "messy and unfiltered creative partnerships".

To mark the occasion, the agency premiered a film called "A 35-Year Love Affair" which it created as a tribute to the powerful relationships that fuel creativity.

From celebrating 100 years of John Lewis in its 'Tableau' campaign, to telling a zeitgeisty Christmas story featuring a father and son connecting through the power of vinyl - the work has exactly the intergenerational appeal that supports people for generations.

Meanwhile EE's 'Safer Sims' builds on the success of 'Curfew' - a campaign last year which shed light on how the network can ease the minds of worrying parents.

This was followed up by a Christmas campaign - 'The Christmas Double' - which focused on the juggling many families do to see an array of family members.

In addition to EE, Saatchi & Saatchi has retained major clients Ovo and the British Heart Foundation.

For Ovo, the agency created a 60-second spot entitled 'Power Struggle', which was directed by duo Réalité - made up of Jason Causse and Alba Solé.

For the British Heart Foundation, the agency took home a much-deserved Silver Lion in the Outdoor category for 'Til I Died' - a campaign that poignantly tapped into fan culture to raise awareness of cardiac arrest in young people.

Creative duo Pete Iouiliano and Ollie Agius, who spearheaded "'Til I Died' were also behind 'The Fatal Question'. The campaign, produced by Biscuit Filmworks and directed by Glue Society, alongside Taylor Herring and Street Doctors shone a light on knife crime.

Set in a powerful in a school, it was directed by Jonathan Kneebone, and uses powerful storytelling and statistics to highlight that there is no safe place to stab.

And for Oreo the agency created a digital game linked to a limited edition "Night Twist" edition. This highlights its capabilities at fun and gamified work.

Creative Salon says: With the revitalisation provided by Claire Hollands as CEO, and Saatchi & Saatchi's continued focus on celebrating talent through initiatives like the New Creator's Showcase, the agency is poised to continue its success at redefining what is possible into 2026.