Saatchi Asks Spielvogel to Head Newly Merged Shop

Saatchi & Saatchi Co. PLC, the British advertising holding company that leads all others in annual worldwide billings, announced the merger of two of its biggest U.S. ad agencies Wednesday and shuffled top personnel.

Emerging as the winner is Carl Spielvogel, 58, who founded Backer & Spielvogel Inc., in 1979 and sold it to Saatchi six years later. He was named chairman and chief executive of the newly formed agency, which combines his company with Ted Bates Worldwide, under the new name Backer Spielvogel Bates Worldwide.

Donald M. Zuckert, 53, former chairman of Ted Bates, has been named president and chief operating officer of the new firm. And William M. Backer, 61, former president of Backer & Spielvogel, was named vice chairman of the newly merged operation. The combined agencies will post annual billings of $2.7 billion--about one-third of Saatchi’s worldwide billings of $8.26 billion.

Among the clients of the combined agencies are Wendy’s, Miller Brewing Co., Philip Morris and Avis.

For Spielvogel, the appointment clearly centralizes his power and position within the Saatchi organization. The new firm will rank as the seventh-largest ad agency in the world. Although Ted Bates is a much larger agency than Backer & Spielvogel, Spielvogel outmaneuvered all Bates executives for the top post of the operation. “He may be more dynamic then any single individual within Bates,” said Victoria Butcher, advertising analyst at the New York securities firm Eberstadt Fleming. “He’s also a very seasoned veteran,” she said.