Marcel merges into Saatchi & Saatchi Australia

Publicis Groupe’s Marcel Sydney is merging into Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, in a move “designed to strengthen operational capabilities for Marcel clients”.

Marcel Sydney managing director, Ryan Bernal, is leaving Publicis Groupe to explore new opportunities as a result of the merger. Saatchi & Saatchi will continue to be led by CEO Anthony Gregorio.

Mumbrella understands Marcel’s six staff will be integrated into the Saatchi & Saatchi team.

It is the second merger for the Publicis Groupe this year, followingCX agency Mercerbell joining performance marketing agency Performics, and resulting in Performics Mercerbell.

That merger came about as a result of the two agencies collaborating on a number of clients, namelyCollective Wellness Group’s Anytime Fitness in November last year.

Speaking on theMumbrellacastearlier this month, Publicis Groupe AUNZ CEO, Michael Rebelo, said the Performics Mercerbell merger was a reflection of the group’s efforts to diversify and reinforce agency offerings for clients.

“We have seen increasing demand or opportunity to move,” he said.

“I had this philosophy around how we specialise, create momentum and connect within our group and we saw increasing demand for the capabilities in what Performics delivers and what MercerBell delivers to create a new agency model which is essentially a performance media driven creative and customer experience design agency.

“So COVID helped us get there a lot quicker, but it was one of the ideas we had at the beginning of the year.”

Marcel’s clients include Rio Tinto, Yellow Tail, Ferrero Rocher, Nivea and the Cerebral Palsy Alliance. Amongst its roster, Saatchi & Saatchi services Devondale, Toyota, Nestle, Beam Suntory and Foxtel. Publicis Groupe confirmed that “there have been no changes in the day-to-day running of accounts”.

Bernal had been with Marcel for almost five years, joining as director of client services before being appointed MD in 2017.

In thanking Bernal for his work, Gregorio said that the Marcel MD “has an exciting opportunity that he is about to embark on”.

“On behalf of the Groupe, I would like to thank Ryan for the valuable contribution he has made in our organisation,” Gregorio said.

“He is incredibly smart, with a wicked sense of humour and I will personally miss him enormously. We wish him every success in the future.”

Bernal’s LinkedIn says he is self-employed by wellness tonic brand, No Ugly.

Marcel Sydney’s founder, David Nobay,left the agency in February last year.