Saatchi & Saatchi’s Singapore/Malaysia CEO Dean Taylor leaves to return to New Zealand

July 31 2010, 5:59 pm | BY Kim Shaw | 8 Comments

Dean Taylor.jpgSaatchi& Saatchi Singapore & Malaysia CEO Dean Taylor is the latesthigh profile senior executive to leave the agency. Taylor is returningto New Zealand due to personal reasons.

Taylorpreviously was the managing director of Saatchi’s Auckland office andtransferred to run the Singapore agency at the start of 2009. He replaced John Foley, an ex-Saatchi NZ team member who was promoted to CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Australia. Taylor thentook on responsibility for the Malaysia office soon after. PatrickBrett, south-east Asia CEO, will take over both offices as acting CEOuntil a replacement is found.

The move follows a tough period for the agency which has experienced major setbacks including the loss of the prestigious Singapore Navy and Tiger Beer accounts, plus the turnover of the majority of the creative departments of both offices. Adrian Miller resigned as ECD of both offices in March and Head of Art Richard Copping left the agency in May.

Bridget Taylor-web.jpgMeanwhile, Taylor’s wife Bridget (left), who was a CD at BBDO/Proximity, Singapore, resigned back in June.Taylor is a multi-award winning creative, having won awards atD&AD, Clio, One Show, Cannes Gold and Adfest. She was previously adeputy creative director at DDB New Zealand where she was instrumentalin helping the agency win Campaign Brief’s NZ Agency of the Year twice.

Taylor told CB back in early June: “I start filming the new seriesof The Gruen Transfer today so I’ll be in Sydney a lot over the nextfew months. As for mynext move, I’d rather not say, but there are some very exciting thingshappening.”