Last night the Saatchi family lost one our most legendary members. For 35 years, Doug Pippin made everyone around him better and lived the nothing is impossible spirit. I remember back when I was 22 and had my first meeting with him on the Olympics. In a meeting where the average age was around 27, Doug stood out as “the adult” in the room. As he spoke, everyone just had to sit back, be quiet and watch as a true professional did his thing — every word mattered and you could tell he truly loved what he was sharing. That single meeting showed me the bar for what great looks like and made me strive to one day be that type of “adult.”
For the past 12 years, Doug has been an amazing mentor and friend. He was always ready to go above and beyond the call of duty. When a piece of business was ready to walk out the door, we called Doug and the client stayed. When there was a 10-day shoot a million miles away, he went and always brought back amazing stuff. I had a habit of stopping by his desk every so often to catch up and talk about “the old days.” I would just sit and listen to him recount stories and lessons learned from his time in the business. He would share amazing anecdotes about crazy Directors, hanging out with Dennis Hopper and everything in between. He taught me how to lead with principle and passion. How to do your job at the highest level and not take it all too seriously.
Doug was leading by example until the very end. About a week ago Friday, we found ourselves in a really tight spot with a client and we needed to do a briefing at 6 pm on Friday night. Doug didn’t work on the business, but we knew if there was anyone that could deliver, it was Doug. He was the first person in the room and although he was going to be out of town celebrating his wife’s birthday, he wouldn’t let us down. I went to bed and at 6:05 pm the next day, I had a handful of scripts in my inbox. As always, they were sharp, on-brief and ready to present. After 35 years of emergency meetings, angry clients and weekend work, Doug was the first one to raise his hand and make it happen.
Doug provided us all the blueprint for how to do it right — he wasn’t cutting corners to get to the top, he wasn’t just in it for himself. He loved the work and he loved the people he got to work with. In 2004, Adweek published a story about Doug titled, “Saatchi’s Guiding Light” (http://www.adweek.com/brand-m…/saatchis-guiding-light-73227/). Take a few minutes, give it a read and watch his “Celebrate Humanity” spots. It will remind you just how extraordinarily gifted he was.
Doug Pippin was a legendary Adman and exceptional human being. I will always cherish the times we shared together and his light will shine on in the memories and work that he left behind. Sending all my love to his family today. #Doug#SaatchiNY
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