We haven’t covered Twin Cities operation Carlson Marketing much over the years, but this is somewhat interesting, we suppose. According to a memo we’ve obtained, Carlson, which rebranded under the name Aimia umbrella a year ago, is undergoing a shift in its model that calls for a move away from agency services. Unfortunately, as a result of this decision, our spies tell us that Aimia cut several staffers over the last two days. Here’s a memo that preceded the cuts below:
“From: Jay
To: All Communications & Design EmployeesOver the past few months, we have gone through a thorough analysis of our overall Aimia US business model. The goal was to refine our US value proposition and ensure our strategic services areas are focused on the core competencies and capabilities required to achieve our vision. As a result of this analysis, we will be shifting away from traditional creative agency capabilities and will continue to augment our loyalty management and loyalty strategy services.
AdvertisementToday, we will speak with every Minneapolis-based C&D employee about how the transformation plan affects his or her position. We will also reach out to inform members of the team at other locations who are directly impacted by these changes.
We will try to move through these discussions as quickly as possible, while still being respectful to each person involved and allowing enough time to answer the immediate questions you may have. We ask for your patience and professionalism as we move through the day. We will send you another communication when we have completed these discussions and talk the path forward.
Regards,
Jay
JAY H. LEE
CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, U.S. REGION”
We’re trying to reach out to Aimia to get more clarification on the number of staffers cut, though spies tell us “20+” creative/interactive folks were affected. Last we remember, Montreal-based Aimia cut staff from its Minneapolis-based Carlson unit barely two months after the latter’s rebranding as part of a global restructuring.