Close-Up: Newsmaker - Can Francis make Saatchis media-progressive?(Saatchi and Saatchi's Simon Francis)

Will Simon Francis be given the power to stage a revolution within the new Saatchis and Fallon set-up?

When Simon Francis left Leo Burnett for MindShare in 1998, his peers thought his flirtation with the creative side of the industry was over At the time, Francis said: 'I enjoyed working on the creative side, but I didn't find it rewarding - it's not as creative being a suit in an ad agency as a good, strong media person.'

Something has clearly happened in the past few years to change his mind. Francis has recently donned his ad agency suit again, waved goodbye to his role as the managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at the media network OMD, and taken on a figurehead role as the chief executive of EMEA at Saatchi & Saatchi.

'I'm not a total stranger to creative agencies,' Francis proclaims, but despite an early stint at Leo Burnett in account handling and media planning, Francis' career milestones have always been in media: He began his career at Zenith in the early 90s. His subsequent stint at Burnett was brief, and after four years at MindShare and five at OMD, it looked as though Francis was staying in media.

But it is a testament to his ambitious nature that, despite his strong media allegiances, he has jumped at the Saatchis, opportunity, although no doubt the new role will inspire him to spread his media message to the creative world.

'This is a new age for advertising, and it's just as much about where and how you use the commercial messaging. Every creative agency I speak to has lost its media 'mojo' and a lot of clients I speak to recognise that fact, too,' he explains.

Francis believes he will be able to remedy this by encouraging creative agencies to treat media owners in a 'better and smarter way'.