The launch of the new network is being built around the acquisition of US-based retail marketing specialist ThompsonMurray.
Saatchi & Saatchi X will be headquartered in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where ThompsonMurray is based, with offices also in New York and Cincinnati. These will be followed by offices in Minneapolis, London, Geneva, Sydney and Toronto.
The agency will specialise in in-store marketing, design, product innovation as well as package design. The new network will serve as the "shopper marketing centre" for Publicis agencies globally.
As part of the deal, ThompsonMurray's CEO Andy Murray remains in the same role with the new network, reporting directly to Saatchi & Saatchi worldwide CEO Kevin Roberts, who will be chairman of the new network.
According to Roberts: "Today's shopping experience needs revitalising. More and more purchasing and switching decisions on brands are made in-store." He added that ThompsonMurray had the necessary "expert knowledge of turning shoppers into buyers".
The senior team, which will provide leadership across the network, will report to Murray in Fayetteville. Key figures will include Mel Korn, current CEO of Publicis Collaborative Marketing Worldwide, who becomes vice-chairman; and Mark Kamen, current executive vice-president of Saatchis Collaborative Marketing, who will take on the same role at Saatchi & Saatchi X, New York.
Murray said that the aim of the new agency was to become the most desired network for launching new ideas, reinventing categories and rethinking space as the in-store environment evolves.
"We have always been inspired by the ideas and creative execution of Saatchi & Saatchi, and it was attracted by the insights and experience ThompsonMurray offers in-store. We will bring to life the creative idea behind the brand in a way that connects with the shopper. And what is on-screen will be directly linked with what happens at the two moments of truth, in the store and in the home," Murray said.
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