Boys and Girls appoints renowned adman Robert Senior as chairman

Dublin creative agency snags former Saatchi & Saatchi boss for non-executive role

Robert Senior, the new chairman of Irish ad agency Boys and Girls, is a co-founder of Cadbury gorilla-creator Fallon London.
Robert Senior, the new chairman of Irish ad agency Boys and Girls, is a co-founder of Cadbury gorilla-creator Fallon London.

Irish advertising agency Boys and Girls has appointed former Saatchi & Saatchi chief executive Robert Senior as its new non-executive chairman.

The Dublin-based creative agency, led by partner and managing director Patrick Meade, announced the appointment in tandem with a "refresh" of its brand.

“Having his singular insights and perspective on our agency will be invaluable as Boys and Girls grows and develops to another level of success both in Ireland and internationally,” Mr Meade said.

Mr Senior said he was "instantly drawn" to the "passion, creativity and independent spirit" of the agency, which employs 55 people and occupies a 6,000 sq ft former primary school in Portobello. Its clients include Three Ireland, Ulster Bank, Energia, Jose Cuervo and Bushmills.

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A co-founder of the creative agency Fallon London, Mr Senior has thirty years' experience in the business, having helped grow Fallon into a 190-employee business that was then sold to global ad giant Publicis Groupe in 2006.

He announced his departure from Publicis-owned Saatchi & Saatchi last year to “step into a void of discovery”.

Famous campaigns

Fallon London's most famous campaigns include Cadbury Dairy Milk's drumming gorilla, the bouncing of 10,000 coloured balls down the hills of San Francisco to promote Sony Bravia televisions, and a full-size Skoda car made out of cake.

Saatchi & Saatchi, the agency most favoured by Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher, later won the British Labour party's advertising account under Mr Senior's leadership, having pitched campaign posters featuring then prime minister Gordon Brown and the slogan "not flash, just Gordon".

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery is an Irish Times journalist writing about media, advertising and other business topics