New Managing Director at Saatchi & Saatchi Simko

Christophe Waeber has been appointed Managing Director at the communications agency Saatchi & Saatchi Simko, based in Geneva. This is a newly created position. After Madeleine von Arx-Richter, former COO at Saatchi & Saatchi Simko, left the Geneva-based agency in September (see ), the position of COO was upgraded to Managing Director. "This upgrade is due to the rapid growth of the agency," explained CEO Pedro Simko to Werbewoche. "Christophe Waeber is the ideal appointment for us," said Simko. "He doesn't come from the classic advertising school. Rather, in addition to his impressive track record in management, strategic planning and relationship management, he also brings a wealth of experience from the media world and other marketing and communication disciplines," Simko continued. According to Simko, this know-how is both valuable and necessary for a communications agency in a communications world that is undergoing dramatic change and in which an agency can no longer distinguish itself solely through outstanding creations.
Waeber, who holds a Master's degree in Marketing and Business Administration from the University of Basel, has been Managing Director of Carat Switzerland since June 2005. He was previously Deputy Publishing Director and Head of Sales at Weltwoche and Bilanz (2004-2005), Managing Director at the media agency OMD (2002-2004) and Head of Strategic Planning at Seiler DDB (1999-2001).
 
Christophe Waeber will take up his new position at Saatchi & Saatchi Simko on January 2, 2007. The Geneva-based agency recently attracted attention by winning the Orange account (see
and ).