Draftfcb has promoted Toby Sachs to chief global growth officer, the top business development position at the agency born from the merger between direct marketing shop Draft and branding stalwart Foote Cone & Belding.
Mr. Sachs most recently was senior vice president and group management director at Draftfcb in Chicago. He succeeds Tony Weisman, who left Draftfcb to head the Chicago office of Publicis Groupe’s Digitas interactive agency.
“I’ve got to deliver some numbers,” Mr. Sachs said from Chicago. “The exciting thing is to find some significant accounts where we can really bring all of our competencies to the table.”
A native of Britain, Mr. Sachs has more than 25 years of experience in the agency business. He joined FCB Chicago three years ago to run the worldwide Boeing account. In 2005 he participated in the successful pitch of the global Dow business.
Before joining FCB Chicago, Mr. Sachs worked at Draft Chicago, running the Sprint PCS account. Prior to that he spent almost two decades at Leo Burnett, working on the Kellogg account in Europe, Asia and finally the United States.
At Leo Burnett, Mr. Sachs was in charge of business development. He ran a team that, in one year, brought in more than $600 million in billings from clients like the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Army.
His international experience, coupled with the business development background, is crucial as Draftfcb establishes its credentials as a large shop offering both direct and brand marketing services.
Mr. Sachs immediate task is to meet and collaborate with Draftfcb business development executives throughout the agency.
“There are some great people looking after individual offices and individual geographies,” he said. “So I’ve got to go out there and meet them and get them thinking as a global team.”
Draftfcb, which is part of Interpublic Group of Companies Inc., recently suffered a blow when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. pulled its $580 million account from the shop. That setback has not stopped the agency from integrating its Draft and FCB operations under chairman/CEO Howard Draft.
“Howard said ‘You’re chief growth officer and I want some growth,'” Mr. Sachs said. “The mandate I’ve got is to make sure that one plus one equals more than two.”
