Kevin Roberts (businessman)
| Kevin Roberts | |
|---|---|
| Born |
20 October 1949 Lancaster, England |
| Education | Lancaster Royal Grammar School |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Title | Chairman, Red Rose Consulting |
Kevin John Roberts CNZM (born 1949) is a British businessman. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi from 1997 to 2014. In September 2006, Saatchi & Saatchi won a US$430 million JC Penney contract because of the idea of lovemarks, which was invented and promoted by Roberts. Roberts became executive chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi in 2015, then non-executive chairman in 2016. He resigned in August 2016 and is now chairman of Beattie, the creative communications group.
Roberts was born and raised in Lancaster in the northwest of England. He was educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School in the 1960s. He then became an assistant brand manager for Mary Quant Cosmetics in 1969. Roberts was later promoted to a brand manager.
From 1969 to 1986, Roberts worked as international new products manager at Gillette, then group marketing manager at Procter & Gamble (P&G), then regional vice president at Pepsi Cola, Middle East in 1982.
In 1987, Roberts was appointed to the first "chief" role in his career, as president and CEO of Pepsi Cola, Canada. While at Pepsi Canada, Roberts notably executed a publicity stunt after a keynote speech to a group of Pepsi Canada employees, bottlers, and the media. Roberts had a Coke vending machine rolled onto the stage while he was speaking. As he finished his speech, he reached down, picked up a machine gun, and blasted the Coke machine. "[Roberts] meticulously planned the spectacle, borrowing a gun from a squad of police officers and rigging the vending machine so that he had to fire only one blank to set off a dazzling rat-a-tat-tat."
From 1989 to 1997, Roberts was director and chief operating officer (COO) of Lion Nathan.
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