Can't we all get along: Saatchi & Saatchi/DFS Pacific chief Joseph Cronin fosters teamwork at Southland operation of international ad giant.

Joseph J. Cronin seems like a fatherly figure, in an understanding-yet-firm sor of way.

The president and CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi DFS/Pacific -- the advertising agenc that has been bringing you Toyota commercials since 1975 -- has an easy demeano that, matched with a keen mind, has made him both an approachable and well-respected leader.

Saatchi & Saatchi is an advertising giant, with worldwide headquarters in Londo and annual worldwide billings of $5.3 billion. As president and CEO of the Pacific office, Cronin oversees all aspects of the L.A.-area outpost's operations.

Walking through Saatchi & Saatchi's Torrance offices, Cronin is the target of a many jokes as he dishes out. In the company's in-house video studio, he pauses at the door to the control booth.

"People are afraid I'll find them smoking in there," he says with a sly grin.

Walking by an impromptu gathering in one worker's office, a voice playfully cries out, "I didn't have my feet up on my desk, Joe!," as though it has been the topic of conversation several times before.

Cronin stresses the importance of having an office work well together. And that he says, means the employees must get along. It's a simple concept, he says, bu notes that some agencies think friction among employees creates better ads.

"I don't understand that," he says.

Yet, as casual as a walk though the office may sound, back in his office, Croni is also the target of constant interruptions as he smoothes over the various crises of the day.

"We're problem solvers," Cronin says of those in the advertising business.

If so, Cronin is a problem solver extra-ordinaire, the head man at the second-largest ad agency in Los Angeles County and part of a team with 15 U.S. offices stretching from San Francisco to New York that raked in $1.8 billion in national billings in 1993.

Cronin's key business concerns are two-fold. One, to make sure Saatchi's client are getting the best possible service. Two, making sure the agency is running efficiently, and that means making a profit.

This leaves Cronin little time to be involved in the day-to-day creative work that has made his agency famous. But, as with most things, Cronin is always there if someone needs him, which, if one recent Friday morning is any indication, is quite often.

"I try and be there if somebody has a problem, or if someone wants to bounce something off of me," Cronin says. "I try to take the big-picture view."

His experience -- some 30 years since his first job during college with BBDO in Boston -- has afforded him that wide perspective. The business has changed over those years, Cronin says.

Once upon a time, he says, doing the best creative work possible was the common course of action. Now, he says, maximizing profit margin is equally vital.

"Most of us in this business were raised to be creative," he says. "If you were good at that, you got promoted. Now it's a matter of your bottom line. Can you do this piece of work with two less people? It used to be, 'Can we get this account?' Now it's, 'Do I want this account?' And then, 'Can I get it?'

"We probably walk away from more pitches than we go after," he adds.

It was some time in high school, Cronin says, that he first became interested i advertising. At the time, he wasn't interested in much of anything, and his hig school counselor, his parents and even Cronin himself began to worry about his future.

"It scared me," he recalls. "I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. So I did what I always do. I looked at it like a project. I sat down and decided I would research what I wanted to do. I read about every occupation I could."

Being a banker was out, he says, as was being a lawyer. But advertising caught his eye as something "I could have a good time doing." And he has never looked back. From there, it was on to Northeastern University, and a job with BBDO in Boston.

"I did everything they asked me to do," Cronin says. "I delivered the mail in the morning. If someone needed a cup of coffee, I got it. When they needed someone to run the projector and not speak, I was there. I've even been a model in an ad because the model didn't show up. That's really the way this business is, taking advantage of opportunities."

After Northeastern, Cronin traveled west to get his MBA at Michigan State University. From there, it was on to Ford Motor Co.'s management training program for a year, then back to BBDO in Boston, Los Angeles and Detroit.

Cronin spent the early 1980s as head of advertising for Chrysler Corp., then came back to Los Angeles in 1984 to join Dancer, Fitzgerald & Sample, an ad fir that was bought by Saatchi & Saatchi in 1987. Cronin was named CEO of Saatchi's L.A.-area office in 1989.

"I think that at this stage in my life, I've been through enough things that I' not going to get fazed by what somebody's going to bring up," Cronin says.

"What they tease me about here is that I don't get flustered. When everybody is running around saying, 'The sky is falling, the sky is falling, what are we going to do?' I'm probably at my calmest.

"That's a big role I play here," Cronin continues. "If someone is having one of those days, or we are having that kind of a situation as an agency, people here realize that I'm going to stay calm through it and figure out what the solution is."

Cronin's focus is always on finding a solution, rather than on finger-pointing. "I find it a waste of time to go figuring out who screwed up," he says. "Eventually we'll find out who screwed up, I don't want to waste any time with that. I want to figure out what we're going to do."

Jim Helin, managing director at D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, vouches for Cronin's composure when the going gets tough.

"That's very true," Helin says, laughing. "I don't get to see him often under stress at work, but I do play golf with him -- just for a couple of dollars -- and he does keep his cool under pressure. He's got the temperament of a golfer.

Helin adds that Cronin's cool head is coupled with a warm heart. "He's a decent human being," he says. "I think that's the secret to his success -- his human qualities. They are attractive to his clients, and serve him well in his leadership role."

But Cronin clearly has retained his creative spark. Flipping though some poster of the agency's print advertisements, he beams like a father over a catchy tag line someone on his team has developed, and asks if anyone in the room can gues the identity of golfers shown in a Saatchi spot for the Skins Game. The ad only shows the golfers' shoes and socks.

The he pauses for a moment, looking at the next ad, before passing it on.

"We did this for Yamaha," he says. "It's a full comic book."

Then he smiles again.

"Yeah," he says. "You never grow up."

Snapshot

Joseph J. Cronin

Native of: Somerville, Mass. Resident of: Palos Verdes Age: 50 Education: Bachelor of arts degree in marketing, Northeastern University, Boston; MBA, Michigan State University Spouse: Phyllis Cronin