Saatchi & Saatchi, an agency renowned for pushing creative and technological boundaries with clients like Nikon, Toyota and others across various industries, has embraced AI-driven innovation to deliver exceptional business results for its clients. This earned them recognition as AI Agency of the Year at the 2024 Google Search Honours Awards.

Saatchi & Saatchi’s success formula is made up of three parts: experimentation, thought leadership and scalable best practices.

At the core of their strategy is a structured process for testing new advertising products, identifying what works, and quickly applying those insights across their client base. This commitment to experimentation ensures that clients can adopt cutting-edge tools with confidence.

“A ‘test & learn’ strategy is at the heart of Saatchi & Saatchi, and through our partnership with Google we have the opportunity to access AI-powered solutions to share with our clients.” added Melissa Redman, SEM Account Director. “This collaborative approach ensures that we’re leveraging the right product to have the highest impact on both search KPIs and overall business objectives.”

At the same time, the agency takes a proactive role in educating and guiding clients through industry changes. They regularly share insights on AI and privacy through efforts like quarterly “State-of-Search” meetings, positioning themselves as trusted advisors in an evolving digital landscape. After educating clients, Saatchi & Saatchi works with them on the adoption of AI and privacy-focused technologies to help businesses stay ahead of the curve.

To drive performance at scale, they also strategically implement media and measurement practices to efficiently utilize their data and boost ROAS for clients. Leveraging Google AI tools including Enhanced Conversions, Consent Mode and Customer Match, they empower businesses to maximize the value of their first-party data while maintaining privacy compliance. They also focus on Value-Based Bidding efforts, which use Google AI to prioritize spend on high-value customers, and leverage ‘Power Pair’ – a mix of Google’s wide reach with Broad Match and the all-in-one campaign type Performance Max to nail their targeting. Across all efforts, they lean into agile budgeting to ensure dollars are always spent most effectively. Overall, these efforts ensure clients not only achieve immediate marketing success but are also more prepared for the future of digital advertising.

By leveraging these AI-powered tools, the agency helped clients like Nikon increase revenue by 49% and profit by 8% in 2024. Automotive partner Toyota also saw an incremental campaign reach of 427%.

“Beyond the business outcomes, this award signifies the growth and development of Saatchi & Saatchi’s team” said Kyle White, Performance Partner Lead, Google. “Through their adoption of Google’s AI tools, they’ve become true leaders in the field. We’re looking forward to seeing their continued excellence with AI-powered marketing campaigns. We’re proud to be their partners on this journey.”

Through collaboration with Google, Saatchi & Saatchi has set a new standard for AI-driven performance marketing, turning experimentation and thought leadership into actionable results. Their innovative strategies and emphasis on education have positioned marketing as a true growth engine in an evolving digital landscape.

For more best in class work from top Canadian brands, read more stories from the Google Search Honours Awards on Media in Canada here and strategy here.