Wow knock us over with a feather, why don't you. We were more than a bit taken aback to discover an article in Ad Age online today that actually addresses the state of the advertising industry and at least one of the ad agencies that -- last time we checked -- were the heart and soul of this business. Such coverage -- beyond the basic account wins and losses and exec comings and goings -- is a rarity nowadays in advertising trade publications. But that issue aside, we couldn't figure out why reporter Rupal Parekh opted to focus only on McCann-Erickson and its alleged domestic woes.
An unnamed agency consultant is quoted saying McCann's woes are perhaps worse than most others. Baloney. Such a remark leads us to believe this consultant -- and when has there ever been one worth a bent nickel? -- hasn't bothered to scratch very far beneath the surface of an industry clearly in crisis far and wide. Parekh's article goes on to enumerate all the obvious reasons why any agency would be suffering -- account losses, lack of leadership and an absence of vision.
If McCann is indeed believed to be suffering more than most domestic agencies on these fronts, might we suggest Parekh turn her attention to Chicago, and two of what were once this city's leading ad shops. We talk, of course, of DDB/Chicago and Leo Burnett. If ever two agencies were in danger of going down the drain because of the aforementioned problems, these two are.
Both Chicago shops have been stagnating creatively for years now. Which is a tragedy, because each used to have a distinctive creative style and output that kept the Chicago ad industry on the radar screen. But no longer. In the wake of Paul Tilley's suicide, DDB/Chicago appears to have decided simply to withdraw into itself -- a catastrophic public relations blunder that has left the shop with next to no public profile, except perhaps as the agency famous for producing increasingly mediocre Bud Light advertising.
As for Leo Burnett, the agency seems in no hurry to name a new creative honcho to replace John Condon, who did little to raise the shop's creative image in his several years on the job. And if Burnett leader Rich Stoddart has a vision he's implementing, it's certainly not drawing the attention of new clients. Because there hasn't been a major one since the agency got its GM win. And we don't want to talk about what has become of that, do we?
So Rupal Parekh, congrats for finally writing the kind of story Ad Age should be producing four or five times a week. You're right. There is trouble in Ad Land all right. But trust us, McCann is by no means the only major trouble spot.
Sources say Vernon Hills-based CDW, the computer supplies reseller, has narrowed its search for a new ad agency to two finalists: the Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., and Ogilvy & Mather/Chicago -- two agencies that are vastly different in size and public profile. Martin, of course, is famously known as the shop that won the huge WalMart account from DraftFCB/Chicago, which had the business for just a few weeks. O&M has seen various pieces of business come and then go over the past several years, including Quiznos, Kraft Foods' Oscar Mayer unit and, of course, a large chunk of Sears business. O&M/Chicago remains best known for its recent "real beauty" work on the Dove beauty brand.
Gone from the CDW review, it appears, is DDB/Chicago, which had been pushing hard, we were informed, to remain in the running for business. No indication of when CDW will announce a winner.
Okay. We'll come clean. We were hardly fixated on what was happening in the south of France at the horrendously over-hyped, overrated event known as the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. But from a Chicago perspective (and granted there wasn't much of a Chicago perspective to worry about at the fest this year), there was one interesting development. The Escape Pod/Chicago proved it could compete with some of the biggest (but not necessarily the best) acts in Chicago, including Leo Burnett and DDB. Yes, Vinny Warren and the folk at the Escape Pod wowed 'em at Cannes with two of the commercials the agency created last summer for OfficeMax's delightful back-to-school ad campaign.
You remember the work. It was all about a guy going around New York City trying to pay for expensive jewelry and vehicles with nothing but pennies. "Used Car" and "Jewelry Store" from that campaign were both shortlisted in the Film category at Cannes -- a phenomenal achievement given that the Escape Pod had never before entered work at Cannes.
Meanwhile, among the city's biggies, Burnett managed only two commercials on the short list -- "Brother of the Bride" for Hallmark Cards and "Zach Johnson" for Tampax, while DDB had only one piece of work shortlisted, the "No Fry Left Behind" for McDonald's. DraftFCB also had one spot shortlisted -- "Crib" for client Qwest.
When it comes to prevailing in new business pitches, DDB/Chicago doesn't have much to show for its efforts of late -- having lost out in a bid for the Radio Shack account that agency insiders, we're told, were confident was winnable. The fact that DDB has no chief creative officer may have had something to do with its failure to nab Radio Shack. Or it just may be that the shop's pitch didn't resonate with the intended audience.
But whatever the case, DDB now appears to have learned how to play hardball to stay in the running for new business as long as possible. DDB is one of several shops still believed to be contending for the CDW ad account, which has been quietly in review. Vernon Hills-based CDW is a reseller of computer hardware and related supplies. Sources say that when it became apparent that DDB was about to be eliminated from the review, DDB parent Omnicom Group, which just happens to be a CDW customer of some size, ever so subtly dropped hints it might have to rethink vendors for its computer supplies.
Needless to say, the hints were heard. DDB has remained in the review, we're told. Sources now say a decision on which agency will win the CDW account is expected shortly.
Are there enough old-timers left at DDB/Chicago to get the job done? That was our first -- and most pressing thought -- when we heard that Anheuser-Busch is looking to produce more emotion-driven television advertising to try and boost flagging sales of its iconic Budweiser beer brand. Emotion-driven? Those middle-aged guys left in A-B's marketing department clearly don't talk much to the whippersnappers entrusted with creating most of the ads we see on TV today. These youngsters know how to crack a joke all right. At least a joke that smacks of snarky frat-house humor. But emotion-driven advertising? Come on guys! That requires a firm grasp of one skill that we're afraid is in dangerously short supply among the vast majority of young professionals in the advertising industry today. We're talking, of course, about storytelling -- crafting a gripping tale that engages the emotions in 60 seconds. Maybe less. It's not easy. The copy, visuals, music -- all have to coalesce just so to create a commerical with real emotional heft. This is what DDB/Chicago, A-B's lead agency on Budweiser, is now being asked to do. This would be the same DDB that for years has been driving its Bud Light punch line ad formula into the ground -- producing too many TV spots that were too often too dumb and unfunny. Now, suddenly, the agency is being asked to go all emotional. It's a tall order.
Cramer-Krasselt/Chicago said Thursday that the agency and its Executive Creative Director Dean Hacohen have agreed to part ways. The agency said it would conduct an aggressive search for his replacement. The agency also said it is looking for a creative leader with a pedigree the shop can leverage and the experience to handle the evolving and integrated needs of C-K's diverse portfolio.
With Hacohen gone, three of Chicago's largest ad agencies now are without creative leaders. DDB/Chicago has been searching for a CCO for more than a year, and Leo Burnett began a similar search several weeks ago.
News of Hacohen's exit comes as C-K was announced as one of four finalists for the TGI Friday's ad account. The other three finalists are the Martin Agency In Richmond, Va.; Doner in Southfield, Mich., and Publicis/New York.
Portfolio Night has become an annual event that happens on the same day (this year it's June 11) at ad agencies in 22 countries around the world and that allows young men and women about to graduate, or just graduated from, college to present their work and get constructive feedback from working advertising creatives. Given the current trying state of the ad industry, this may not be the most upbeat of nights. But who knows.
Portfolio Night this year in Chicago is being orchestrated by Gertrude Inc., a boutique shop that has a low, but hip profile. At least the agency's flashy Web site certainly suggests the shop is striving for hipness. DDB/Chicago, whose local profile isn't what it once was, had run the Portfolio event in Chicago in years past.
Gertrude founder and Chief Creative Officer Otis D. Gibson (not to be confused with the cricket player) told us he was happy to take over the event from DDB because he's always been a big supporter of young advertising talent in this city and likes to hire young recruits at his agency as often as he can. "I see lots of young talent with great ideas, but they need to learn how to implement," said Gibson.
Gibson has reserved Chicago's Relax Lounge for the Portfolio evening and commissioned Dale Levitski of "Top Chef" fame to prepare what are being characterized as "small bites" for the occasion.
Since Gertrude is relatively small, the shop has reached out to creatives from other local agencies to interact with students at Portfolio Night. That list of participating professionals includes some familiar names, including Steffan Postaer, the famously quirky chief creative officer at Euro RSCG/Chicago, and Vinny Warren, the cheekily comedic creative director and founder of the Escape Pod/Chicago. Several creatives from Leo Burnett/Chicago also are on the list, as are Jim Schmidt and Joe Stewart from Downtown Partners and Paul Brourman from Sponge.
On Monday trade publication Adweek unveiled its annual report cards that give a letter grade to most major American ad agencies for their overall performance during 2008. And the news was not at all good for at least three shops with major presences in Chicago.
The DDB network, which includes its flagship Chicago office, could do no better than a C+, while Leo Burnett, whose flagship office also is in Chicago, managed only a C. And with a C-, DraftFCB, which last week won the Miller Lite account, scored the lowest grade of the three major shops in Chicago. Cramer-Krasselt had the best -- though hardly stellar -- showing of any of the Chicago-centric agencies with a B-.
Still, the report cards (which included no "A" grade for any agency) are further evidence -- if any more were needed -- that all is not well in the ad industry. The grades they handed out should also indicate to Adweek editors that they might be well advised to focus more of their reporting efforts on what is going on inside ad agencies that has led to this decidedly lackluster set of marks.
Too much of the online editorial in both Adweek and its principal competitor Advertising Age nowadays is devoted to issues peripheral to the real business of advertising, which presumably is what both magazines were created to cover.
We thought it would be a long, long time indeed before another top advertising executive disgraced the profession on a scale commensurate with the pathetic antics of Julie Roehm, who was kicked out of WalMart in 2006, for the brazenly shameless way she is said to have handled herself and her marketing responsibilities at her former employer. But barely three years after that extraordinary debacle, JWT North American CEO Rosemarie Ryan has managed to one-up Roehm.
Just over a week ago, Ryan came to Chicago to tell the 50 or so remaining employees at the vastly diminished JWT/Chicago that the local shop will shut down forever in 60 days. Even though she was here to close a Chicago agency with an unusually rich history spanning more than 100 years, Ryan did the dirty deed quickly and then refused to address questions from the media, except for a few cursory remarks to Advertising Age -- among them her startling admission she didn't know why JWT/Chicago had failed.
Ryan's observation surely will live in infamy as infuriating evidence of what sad shape the American advertising industry is in circa 2009. If executives such as Ryan who are paid handsomely to manage and grow ad agencies don't know what's happening or why, how can there be any hope for this once fun and hugely creative industry to find its way out of the dark, depressing hole into which it is sinking?
Certainly Ryan is not alone among the current crop of executives contributing to the ad business' woes. Several other Chicago agencies have faltered badly in recent years -- DDB and Leo Burnett to name but two -- as management has proved unable to restore the luster and vibrancy to these battered shops.
In the days since Ryan delivered her bombshell to JWT/Chicago, there has been an outpouring of nostalgic reminiscences from former and current employees at a newly-formed Web site www.ripjwt.com. It's remarkable to see how many people recall the fun times at an agency that was -- once upon a time -- a real creative beehive.
Nostalgia is nice, but it might behoove all these Web posters fondly remembering the JWT/Chicago that was to focus less on the long-ago happy past and more on the real and disturbing problems of today that have led to the shop's demise. And more importantly, to speak up and help push for change in a business that desperately needs to.
While we wait and wonder if DDB/Chicago ever will name a new creative leader, the agency still is losing accounts. Midas, the chain of car maintenance shops, quietly exited the agency in January and moved its ad business to Moroch & Associates in Dallas, Tex. Midas had been a DDB client since 2003. Around the time Midas exited DDB, longtime DDB creative Gary Alfredson, who had worked on the business, also left the agency. A Midas spokesman said Alfredson had worked on a radio campaign for Midas after he and the company's account left DDB. Midas apparently has revamped its advertising strategy to focus more on tailoring ads to individual markets rather than running national brand advertising. Moroch reportedly has extensive experience regionalizing marketing efforts. Moroch also works with other franchisors, including McDonald's.
