This week, Austin’s GSD&M made a series of staffing changes that included the departures of several agency veterans.
The total number of employees dismissed was approximately a dozen, and the following executives are no longer with the agency:
- David Crawford, a 25-year veteran who was promoted to the SVP/managing GCD role in 2009
- Steve Shaw, a producer who spent three decades with the agency
- Scott Moore, SVP and account director who worked with McCann, Deutsch L.A. and KBS+ before joining GSD&M for the second time in 2005
SVP/GCD and McCann vet Glenn Sheehan also left GSD&M earlier this year for a position with smaller Austin agency A3 Creative.
CEO Duff Stewart tells us that “we had to say goodbye to a few people to align our business with where we’re headed,” attributing the change to some prominent account losses and the shifting needs of current clients.
The most recent news concerning GSD&M came in May when PetSmart announced a decision to take its marketing in-house only seven months after signing the agency as its new creative lead. Former client Radio Shack, which enlisted “Weird Al” Yankovic to attempt a holiday comeback last year, also went bankrupt, and the hedge fund Standard General finalized its purchase yesterday for $26.2 million; many of the approximately 1,500 locations it bought in April will soon become Sprint/Radio Shack stores. Recent high-profile successes include the Avocados from Mexico Super Bowl ad, which we discussed with Creative Director and RPA/180LA veteran Tom Hamling in January.
Stewart notes that, aside from these changes, the agency is currently hiring for multiple positions in order to better align the needs of various clients with its in-house talent.