Saatchi chiefs tipped to leave

The men behind iconic TV ads Lion Red Blooded and the Anchor Family are believed to be leaving Saatchi & Saatchi.

Andrew Stone, New Zealand chief executive of Saatchi, and his head creative director Mike O'Sullivan are tipped to have handed in their resignations.

Stone refused to comment and an approach to worldwide chief executive Kevin Roberts went unanswered. However, the rumour is strong amongst industry insiders and has been reported across several advertising blogs.

Fairfax Media has been told the two industry stalwarts are interested in setting up their own agency and their replacements are already being sought by the company.

Two of the names rumoured to be in the hat - Cindy Mitchener of Marsden Inch and James Hall of Assignment Group - have both categorically denied being approached for the top job. Mitchener says anyone with connections to Saatchi & Saatchi will be subject to the rumour-mill and it was not helpful to speculate.

Mitchener is a consultant with the agency until December and Hall has worked with Saatchi & Saatchi in both New Zealand and London.

Andrew Stone has either been with S&S or his own agency since 1988. He was at Saatchi & Saatchi London until 1991 when he returned to New Zealand to lead Saatchi's Auckland office. He re-joined Saatchi in 2004 after eight years as chief executive of Generator, an agency he founded in 1995.

O'Sullivan - an Irishman who's been in New Zealand for 14 years - previously held the top spot at Colenso BBDO where he was credited with turning the agency into a creative powerhouse, and was at Publicis Mojo prior to that.

Commenting on a series of top-level ad industry changes, including at M&C Saatchi and Aim Proximity, as well as the rumoured changes at Saatchi, Image Centre publisher and veteran ad-man Mike Hutcheson says the advertising industry tends to go through employment upheaval in tough economic times. "Everyone's getting squeezed," he says.