Dustin Chick to run M&C Saatchi Abel SA's new PR agency

9 Jan 2020

Dustin Chick will be using his journalism and communications expertise to launch and lead M&C Saatchi Abel's new PR agency, Razor. He joins the agency after spending nearly a decade as Ogilvy South Africa's head of strategy: influence and public relations.

Dustin Chick.

“After almost 10 years at Ogilvy, it felt like the right time to take on a new challenge, both personally and professionally. With M&C Saatchi Abel Group being named Large Agency of the Year at the 2019 AdFocus Awards, and looking to expand its service offering into PR and communications with the launch of Razor – heading up the business seemed like a natural next step, and an immensely exciting opportunity to reinvent public relations in South Africa,” says Chick.

M&C Saatchi Abel enjoys stellar night at 2019 FM AdFocus awards

M&C Saatchi Abel 2 Dec 2019

Innovative approach

He is recognised as one of the leading innovators and voices within the PR, influence, crisis and reputation management fields. He was most recently recognised by the Holmes Report as one of the top 25 innovators in communications across Europe, Middle East & Africa.

“When we were looking to expand our service offering into the PR and influence space with Razor, we knew we needed to drastically differentiate ourselves from our competitors in an already overcrowded space in order to stand out,” says Mike Abel, founding partner and group chief executive officer.

“With Dustin’s innovative approach to and his recognition in developing reputation-changing narratives, he was a natural fit to take on this challenge.”

Chick has worked across multiple blue-chip clients and across varied categories including Anglo American, Audi, Avis, Western Union and Brand South Africa. He will be based at M&C Saatchi Group South Africa’s Johannesburg Campus but will work closely with all business units across Cape Town and Africa.