and sail into the bloody ocean of business
upstarts was triggered by a turning
point moment. After almost a decade of
experience in the agency business, they
encountered a black ceiling.
“What is a black ceiling”, I ask out of
curiosity. George smiles and Lenny who is
a gifted story teller volunteers to give me
some context. “In 2000, in McCann, we
decided we wanted to launch a new media
agency called Universal McCann with a
different P and L. It was quite successful”.
By the time they left in 2003, Universal
McCann was the biggest lead agency in
Kenya. But the year 2000 was a watershed
for the trio. They had been mulling over
starting a business but remained hesitant
to take the leap of faith. That year, the
CEO of McCann Global made a promise
to Wall Street that they were certain to
deliver on a profit.
In the third quarter, the profit prospects
turned bleak and a moment of panic
ensued. All McCann offices were ordered
to cut head count, irrespective of whether
individual agencies had made a profit. The
directive left Lenny conflicted “We had
just consolidated all of EABL’s media.
Why was I going to fire guys just because
someone in New York says so and we are
making money?”
The relationship with the seniors
deteriorated after that directive. An
intrepid French MD named Thierry
Dubus resigned shortly afterwards and
his replacement, an East Asian, a guy
hired as group account director for the
Coke account from Jordan, was promoted
to MD before he set foot in Kenya. When
he arrived, his first order of business was
to put out a staff memo saying no one
should have more than two tea spoons
of sugar. Sammy reacts, “He brought in
headmaster rules”.
The new MD’s leadership style was
stifling. The situation became untenable
32 MAL22/18 ISSUE
Business was hard to
come by. Most of the big
clients they handled at
McCann did not follow
them. The first months
of business were a case
of baptism by fire and
it appeared that they
had
over-estimated
their prospects. In
the month of August
2003, the phones did
not ring for the entire
month. Not a single
client or supplier even
called to say, ‘Hey”.
and staff said, enough is enough and led a
rebellion. They got a petition signed by all
staff, faxed to London and then marched
into the office and ordered the MD out!
George recollects, “I think we are the
only agency that ever fired an MD under
physical threat”.
However to replace the ousted MD, the
company brought in the guy who was
running McCann Uganda, who just
happened to be white, a man who reported
to Lenny, to become his MD. That was the
‘black ceiling’ and they had to make a call.
The food arrives. It is one big bowl of
mixed vegetables, potatoes and chicken in
stew. George does the honors of serving
and as he scoops through the goulash
looking for bits of chicken he comments,
“Clearly, these guys are like Africans. They
know how to stuff you with starch”.
After that incident, the Saracens decided
to build something of their own. They
drew inspiration from two people who
set sail and showed them that there was
life outside secure employment. “One was
Ndirangu Wa Maina who had been passed
over twice and denied a promotion.
He left to start Consumer Insight”. The
person who replaced Ndirangu was Paul
Kukubo. In less than three years, Paul
quit to go and run 3Mice. “Everyone in a
senior position who was black was leaving
to go and start their own businesses”.
Sammy and George quit shortly afterwards
but Lenny stayed in employment to finance
the equipment for the new business. The
first order of business when they started
in 2002 was to employ an accountant. “We
had seen starts ups come and go. We did
not want to be carried away in the event
that we got marginally successful as we
had seen it happen to other people”.
They had much to prove especially as
young indigenous Kenyans attempting
to claim a significant stake in an industry
that was stereotypically fronted by white
Art directors.
Saracen Media was the first independent
media agency, not owned by an agency.
They were not affiliated to any mainstream
agency which was actually a big risk
because the clients preferred a one-stop
agency that handled everything from
media to creative, client service to PR.
Little Saracen was coming up against
the big boys like O& M, McCann, Y&
R and Century Advertsing. Saracen was
new and broke which meant they were
disadvantaged. They had to find something
extra. Sammy recalls the moment. “We
had to sell dribbling skills that Messi
would envy. Speed that Usain Bolt would
be panting to catch up with”.
They had to be so good at their craft to
render their weakness invisible. Saracen
were small. They had to be faster. Nimbler.
Sharper and with something extra that