4am Saatchi & Saatchi, a privately held company, operates under Saatchi & Saatchi proven agency model. However, the 41-year-old company has experienced lots changes over the years, ranging from media buying to creative performance to digital business transformation. Although these strategies have proven successful, the need and hungriness to evolve continues. Change is not easily welcomed and most people don’t understand why change is needed. Before developing any strategy, I established the level of resistance and cynicism the company would face towards strategy implementation. Is the ground fertile for the change? Who are the primary stakeholders that will help us or block our way? How many roadblocks will we find and how will we overcome them?

1. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
People First
4am Saatchi & Saatchi | Business Strategy Development | 2016-2017
The advertising industry is in flux. In Guatemala, competition and substitutes
are rising rapidly, commoditizing the creative and production landscape.
Big companies work with global networks while mid-to-small businesses
don’t have large budgets to invest in strategic development, creative and media.
4am Saatchi & Saatchi is a privately held company in Guatemala, operates under
Saatchi & Saatchi proven agency model. However, the 41-year-old company has
suffered a lot of transformations during the years. These changes responded
to the fluctiating market needs and strategies fluxed from media buying (2000)
to creative performance (2011) to digital business disruption (2013). Although
these strategies are successful, none of them prove long-term sustainability.
Now the agency faces brutal disruption because of emerging internet
technologies, performance-based fees and ever growing skeptical firms that
see advertising as an expense and treat agencies a “another” switchable service
provider not prepared for the 21st century challenges of digital marketing,
e-commerce, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.

2. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
The creative industry has faced many transformations along history.
Media transformations and technological developments disrupt the industry
every once in a while. However since the dot.com boom, the advertising industry
has taken turns in faster ways than ever before. Creative humans are not enough.
Machine intelligence and interconnectedness are redefining and reshaping the
face of what the creative industry looks like.
Although we don’t find any scholar document that exhibits the creative
industry evolution in Guatemala, it is visibile that local agencies are aligning
to big agencies and network processes and workstyles.
For example, Publicis has changed from a muti-agency offer, to a connecting
needs company as stated in their “Power of One” focus, where they don’t see
themselves as a service company but as a solutions company, integrating their
multiple agencies and subdivisions into clients and consumer needs.
Shackleton added current technological trends to their value proposition,
integrating big data through Shackleton Datalytics, using data to generate
value for their clients.
DDB, another key player in Guatemala, has also made big adjustments to their
worksylte, blurring the lines between business units by integrating digital along
their creative offer.
EXHIBIT 1. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Focal
Firm
Performance
Metrics
Capabilities Objectives/Values Strategy
DDB
Agency of the Year
Effies Awards
2017.
Research, Strategic,
Creative, and digital
development.
Create products,
services and
experiences across all
touchpoints.
Integrate data, business
intelligence, insights,
research, innovation and
creativity
BBDO
Agency of the Year
Effies Awards
2015.
Strategic, Creative
develpment.
UNKNOWN
The work, the work,
the work.
Ogilvy
Most effective agency
Effies Awards 2016.
Research, Strategic,
Creative, and digital
development.
UNKNOWN UNKNOWN

3. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
In a world of accelerated change, strategy cannot be formulated by top
management alone. So, in order to accelerate and involve key players,
I conducted the strategic development along 4 main areas:
A. Internal Stakeholders Assesment.
B. Strategic Formulation.
C. Strategic Analysis.
D. Strategic Implementation.
A. Internal Stakeholders Assesment.
Change is not welcomed easily and most people don’t understand why we
need to change. So, before developing any strategy, I needed to establish the
level of resistance and cynicism the company would face towards strategy
implementation. Is the ground fertile for change? How many roadblocks
will we find and what is their nature? Who are the primary stakeholders that
will help us or block our way?
To answer these questions, I developed an online anonymous survey where
agency employees could select their level of identification with the statements
presented. I conducted in-depth interviews with Business Unit Directors
and High-Performance Personeel to identify major pains and gains.
The hypothesis tested positive: Levels of cynisms among employees is high.
Old employees have grown skeptical to transformation strategies. Since the
agency had been through lots of unexplained changes in structure, unexplained
lay-offs, fear and uncertainty has taken place over employees spirit. Most
employees don’t feel they can grow leading younger employees to “use”
the agency as a training room and leave for bigger agencies within a year.

4. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
EXHIBIT 2. GLOBAL RESULTS: INTERNAL STAKEHOLDER’S ASSESMENT
EXHIBIT 3. SYNTHESIS OF FINDINGS

5. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
B. Strategic Formulation Stakeholders Assesment.
Working in a creative industry, I had to understand that the main capital is
human and understanding the central-american culture and background, forcing
a strategy on them would not be the right approach.
After the Human Experience Assessment, I conducted weekly Design Thinking
sessions first with the CEO and then integrating A-team players and outside
advisors. The main goals for this Design Thinking sessions were:
1. Avoid tunnel vision.
2. Open space for candid conversation
3. Empower people to own the solutions.
Among the solutions people found was the need for integration. Teams
recognized they were working in silos, processes were unclear and there was
duplication of labour. Teams found that there were misunderstandings about
common industry terms and confussion about the kind of services and the quality
level it was expected from clients. Using storytelling and visual representations
in the War Room helped everybody understand what the main goal was and
the direction the company is heading.
EXHIBIT 4. DESIGN THINKING SESSIONS WITH CEO AND KEY STAKEHOLDERS
STRUCTURE REVISION VALUE PROPOSITION BRAINSTORMING
DATA ANALYSIS INTEGRATION OPEN DATA PROJECT WORKFLOW

6. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION REFRAMING DIGITAL MEDIA MAPPING
DIGITAL = CX = UX SILOS REAKDOWN
PROCESS DESIGN INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS SCENARIOS
INSIGHTS BUSINESS UNIT DEFINITION COMMUNITY MANAGER CAREER RE-DESIGN

7. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
EXHIBIT 5. BUSINESS STRATEGY DEFINITION
The Business Strategy was then translated to a Capabilities Framework
establishing 4 main capabilities to develop:
1. Disruptive Insights: build an Insights Unit whose the main focus is to gather
data and analytics for strategy development.
2. Thought Leadership: leverage the creative team into strategic thinking.
3. Thriving Implementation: integrate digital knowledge into the production
workflow to consolidate teams and facilitate economies of scale.
4. Sustainable Initiatives: leverage clients data to offer innovative products and
services beyond advertising and media buying. Become a consultant agency.

8. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
EXHIBIT 6. CAPABILITIES-DRIVEN STRATEGY
NEED
the client
needs:
DISRUPTIVE
INSIGHTS
THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP
SUSTAINABLE
INITIATIVES
THRIVING
IMPLEMENTATION
PURPOSE
we exist to
understand reality in ways
no one has done it before.
inspire and lead teams into
innovative, actionable
ideas.
create sustainable
entrepreneurial solutions.
implement ideas
outstandingly.
DESCRIPTION
what do we do?
• prepare for and conduct
field/desk research.
• collect stories and
inspiration from people.
• analyze existing data the
client, the agency or the
media department has.
• move from concrete to
abstract thinking to identify
themes and opportunities.
• translate what you’ve
learned
from people into
frameworks, opportunities,
solutions, and prototypes.
• produce ventures/business
solutions through rapid
revenue and cost modeling,
capability assessment, and
implementation planning.
• produce agency solutions
though experience
journeys, sensorial impact,
and contextual media
planning.
GOALS
what do we
achieve?
• define who to talk to.
• gain empathy.
• capture stories.
• make sense of data.
• identify patterns.
• define opportunities.
• create solutions.
• identify required
capabilities.
• create models for
sustainability.
• develop innovation
pipelines.
• pilot plans.
• measure impact.
• move ideas toward
implementation.
OUTCOME
what do we
deliver?
• peoples’ stories.
• observations of reality.
• understanding of needs,
barriers and constraints.
• opportunities.
• solutions.
• strategies
• prototypes.
• feasibility assesment.
• viability assesment.
• innovation pipeline.
• implementation plan.
• learning plan.
PROCESSES
how do we
work?
discover
• identify a human, brand,
business, industry
challenge.
• research plan, schedule.
• recognize existing
knowledge.
• identify people to speak
with.
• choose research methods:
- individual interview.
- group interview.
- context immersion.
- self-documentation.
- comunity-driven discovery.
- expert interviews.
- new-places inspiration.
• interview approach.
• mindset developing:
- observation.
- interpretation.
- trend mapping.
ideate
• approach development:
- co-creation workshop.
- empathic workshop.
- tribe thinking workshop.
- parallel thinking workshop.
- lovemarks.
• share stories.
• identify patterns:
- key insights extraction.
- themes finding.
- p.o.i.n.t. technique
(problems, obstacles,
insights, needs, themes)
• create areas of opportunity.
• brainstorm new solutions.
• concept development.
• prototyping.
• gather feeback.
prototype
• develop sustainable
revenue models.
• identify capabilities required
for delivering solutions.
• plan a pipeline of solutions.
• create an implementation
timeline.
• plan mini-pilots & iteration.
• learning plan:
- indicators tracking.
- outcomes evaluation.
develop
• strategic debrief sessions.
• creative process and
techniques
(TO BE DEFINED BY
CREATIVE, ACCOUNTS &
MEDIA TEAM)
PEOPLE
what are the
skills needed to
do the job?
• intuition.
• curiosity.
• intelligence.
• cleverness.
• insight.
• storytelling.
• cross-pollination.
• inventiveness.
• entrepreneurship.
• creativity.
• mastery.
• creativity.
• talent.

9. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
SYSTEMS/
TECH
what systems/
tech are
needed to do
the job?
• research methods:
- traditional.
- online: listening, social.
- experimental.
- desk.
• recruitment
• software licensing
• cloud storage.
• reports licensing:
- saatchiconnect:
euromonitor.
• equipment:
- video recorder.
- audio recorder.
• legal
- release forms.
• methodologies:
- xploring.
- ethnography.
• frameworks:
- human-centered design.
- consumer pathways.
- empathy map.
• methodologies:
- environmental analysis.
- competitors landscape.
- firm capabilities.
- actos map/stakeholders.
- brand analysis.
• trends:
- trends radar.
- trends canvas.
- blending trends.
- industry re-application.
- global brain.
• strategic frameworks:
- eat big fish.
- blue ocean strategy.
- business springboard.
- diagnostic check-up.
- value activation plan.
- brand springboard.
- influence dashboard.
- 6 thinking hats.
- archetypes.
- oiic.
• tools & methodologies:
- human-centered design.
- business model canvas.
- capablities assesment.
- finance modeling
- lovemarks.
- venn diagrams.
- process maps.
- relational maps.
- mini-pilot worksheet.
• concept dev. tools:
- oiic.
- creative brief.
- creative prototyping.
- influence brief.
- brand architecture.
• tools & methods.
- btl
- digital
- media
- planning
- creative
ALINGMENT &
SUSTAINABILI
TY
how do we
make it work
efficiently for
the long run?
• develop research unit:
- field research.
- experimental.
- online listening.
- social insights.
• centralize knowledge base:
- desk research reports.
- media analytics reports.
• licensed software:
- media usage and habits.
- EGM.
- online listening.
• subscribe to leader
research agencies reports
and whitepapers:
- research agencies
(nielsen,
comscore, gallup,
mckinsey)
- technology (mit tech
review,
wired, steelcase,
accenture)
• centralize cuali/cuanti
research providers list.
• ally with traditional research
companies.
• bundle research design,
strategic offers.
• map and profile current
agency clients’ consumers
to identify business
opportunities.
• translate global studies into
local studies.
- women
- students
- gen z
• learn to apply
methodologies.
• access to canvas
templates.
• measure strategic impact.
• gather feedback among
teams.
• align internal teams around
client/communications
needs/strategy.
• create synergy among
business units:
- agency: creative,
production.
- media: trad/digital.
- experience: btl/digital.
- technology.
- route to market.
• develop leadership:
senior cross-unit coaching
sessions.
• develop talent:
- accounts: from orders to
planning.
- media: from atl to digital.
- creative: from campaigns
to ideas.
- design: from print to ux.
• develop creative culture.
• define success mark-ups.
- involvement. team work
- creativitiy. innovation.
- agility. responsiveness.
- satisfaction.
NEED
the client
needs:
DISRUPTIVE
INSIGHTS
THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP
SUSTAINABLE
INITIATIVES
THRIVING
IMPLEMENTATION
PURPOSE
we exist to
understand reality in ways
no one has done it before.
inspire and lead teams into
innovative, actionable
ideas.
create sustainable
entrepreneurial solutions.
implement ideas
outstandingly.

10. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
EXHIBIT 7. BUSINESS UNITS

11. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
C. Strategy Analysis
The strategic framework was presented to the C-level, Non-Chair Board
Members and Board Members to assess the feasibility of the strategy, from
the operations and financial point of view.
On a Director’s level, a Business Case Presentation was made to all Regional
Directors and Business Unit Directors to present the strategic focus and in
a joint effor, analyse the strategy feasibility and gather consensus about points
of action, executional roadmap, timeframes and distribution of labour.
EXHIBIT 8. BUSINESS UNITS GOALS DEFINITION
EXHIBIT 9. SWOT ANALYSIS

12. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
D. Strategy Implementation
Four strategic pillars for implementation were developed, considering:
• Responsibility: People assessments and Business Units re-definition.
• Learning: Academy program to enable knowledge.
• Recognition: Human Resources and Rewards System Design.
• Joy: Team management and work process leadership.
EXHIBIT 10. FOUR IMPLEMENTATION PILLARS
Responsibility & Joy Tactics
• Director’s Problem Solving. Monthly meetings to strategy revision,
problem identification and tactical formulation.
• Team assessments to discover A-team players and Champions.
• Cloud Workflow: re-evaluation of physical space, technology and
internal systems, from accounting to cloud servers in order to lean up
all processes.
Learning Tactics
• P2P Academy: leverage knowledge by empowering people to share
knowledge in a peer-to-peer academy.
• Internal HR campaign: ignite all agency through internal campaings
to leverage morale and teamwork alonn all internal stakeholders.
Recognition Tactics
• HR inclusion to develop an integrated system, including career
paths and reward systems.
• Job descriptions to align skills aligned to the long-term mission
of the company.

13. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
EXHIBIT 11. TALENT POOLS IDENTIFICATION
EXHIBIT 12. ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

14. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
EXHIBIT 13. AGENCY WORKFLOW
EXHIBIT 14. WORK PIPELINE: INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS

15. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
EXHIBIT 15. OPEN DATA PROJECT TACTICAL DEVELOPMENT

16. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
EXHIBIT 16. CAREER DESCRIPTIONS REVISION

17. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
EXHIBIT 17. 4AM ACADEMY

18. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
EXHIBIT 18. INSIGHTS NEWSLETTERS

19. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
Branding Process
After all the business strategy development, we needed to brand our value
proposition and make it accesible for our clients. After all, we are transforming
the way we work, from the inside to the outside.
I crafted the branding brief to all 4am Saatchi & Saatchi creative agencies
in Central America to develop the visual identity for our new workstyle and
methods.
EXHIBIT 18. COMMUNICATIONS BRIEFING

20. This case was prepared by Delmy Alvarenga, Creative Strategist at 4am Saatchi & Saatchi. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the permission of the 4am Saatchi & Saatchi Guatemala. For inquiries, email dalvarenga@4amsaatchi.com
EXHIBIT 19. CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT