A detailed look at the decline and fall of Saatchi & Saatchi, and the reasons behind its downfall. The author conducted over 100 interviews with, among others, the Saatchi brothers, their childhood friends, and past clients. The book also describes changes in advertising in the 1980s.
In this fascinating and in-depth depiction of corporate greed and the politics of power, go behind-the-scenes of the ugly and bitter feud in an industry that is supposed to know the steep price for image run amok.
On December 16, 1994, a bloodletting took place in the stylish boardroom at Saatchi & Saatchi, once the world’s largest advertising agency. The cofounders of the company, Maurice and Charles Saatchi, were fired after threats by the firm’s shareholders but less than a month later, Maurice Saatchi started a rival ad agency and quickly and viciously snapped up former Saatchi & Saatchi clients.
With expansive research and eye-opening interviews, Kevin Goldman effortlessly explores this dramatic saga from the early, audacious start of the firm to the meteoritic rise of the Saatchi brothers and their ultimate fall. From the glitzy and extravagant lifestyle of the advertising industry of the 1970s and 1980s to the dramatic mergers and takeovers that altered Madison Avenue and London forever, Conflicting Accounts is an unputdownable and masterful work, perfect for fans of Mad Men and The Smartest Guys in the Room.
“KEN AULETTA "Fans of great storytelling will love Conflicting Accounts . The characters in this soap opera often behave in mad and seamy ways. But there are these differences: this wonderful yarn is true and their behavior has important, and depressing, consequences for the public."”
DAN RATHER "Kevin Goldman is a first-rate reporter and, it turns out, a first-rate author as well. "Conflicting Accounts" is an engrossing case study of the advertising business as practiced on the grandest possible scale. A supremely astute observer, Kevin Goldman provides sharply etched portraits of some of the most fascinating figures in the modern financial world. Anyone interested in the realities of business today will want to read "Conflicting Accounts", as it details the rise and fall of a colossal empire, the clash of mighty ambitions, and the fiercely competitive jungle that is the world marketplace."
JONATHAN ALTER "Don Hewitt, the legendary creator of "60 Minutes", once said that Kevin Goldman knew more about what was going on at CBS than he did. The same is now true of the advertising business. Kevin Goldman is an ace reporter, deep inside the biggest, most colorful crackup in the history of advertising. The rise, fall, and rise of the Saatchis illuminates not just their business but global business in general in the 1990s. Goldman tells us how it really works."
KEN AULETTA "Fans of great storytelling will love "Conflicting Accounts". The characters in this soap opera often behave in mad and seamy ways. But there are these differences: this wonderful yarn is true and their behavior has important, and depressing, consequences for the public."
Kevin Goldman has written for The New York Times and been a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Variety, and The Wall Street Journal, where for more than three years he was the daily advertising columnist. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.
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