Barrett Splits from Goodby, Starts New Shop

By Kiran Aditham 

Well, maybe it’s too little, too late since other folks picked this up but hey, still newsworthy. Since we were out indulging ourselves in all the ADC Awards shenanigans, we missed a couple of tips that came into the Spy line last night telling us that Goodby Silverstein & Partners ECD/partner Jamie Barrett called it quits at the agency after an 11-year run. Jeff Goodby himself sent a lovely memo out to his San Francisco operation, which you can read in full after the jump. Here’s the first paragraph of Goodby’s tome regarding his former employee, who led creative work on everything from the NBA to Comcast to the now-defunct Sprint account and is now starting up his own Bay Area operation.

“With regret and incandescent best wishes, we must announce today that Jamie Barrett is leaving us to start his own company, somewhere in San Francisco. We are happy for him, of course, because this company started one day with a similar leaving. We know how scary/liberating/appalling/delicious it can be. We are also happy because it is all very amicable. We will stay close to Jamie’s venture, and probably even share some projects together.”

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In the bigger picture, Jamie was of course a powerful spirit and creative force in his years here. From Saturn to the NBA to Comcast to eBay, he relentlessly did things others did not do, taking chances, cajoling clients, always being intelligent and funny even if he wasn’t in real life.  He brought us all a lot of notoriety and fame, and helped make this place a destination for the best people.

He brought us all up, and we will miss that.

He leaves, however, at a time of great fortune here – fortune that Jamie himself helped create.  We have just had an amazing run of new business – we’ve expanded our relationship with Comcast, Google and Frito Lay. We’ve been awarded work for Nature’s Way and Elizabeth Arden’s Britney Spears fragrances.  We have a long-term, signed contract with Chevy now.  And finally, there are a couple of exciting assignments we can’t even talk about yet.  It is a chance for new voices to be heard, for people to shine in new ways and in new media.

It is also a time for new opportunities to expand and deepen our creative leadership.  With the guidance of Margaret, Christian, Hunter, Ralph, Rick, and a number of new faces, our work has been getting better and better, and it’s coming from all directions and all levels of the company.

Every person who comes and goes here makes a difference, as we are fond of saying.  Jamie will be missed, but it will be a chance for others to shine.

The Big Guy will be around for a few weeks, finishing projects and testing socks.  Please join us in congratulating him, celebrating the excitement of his new enterprise, and making sure that he leaves the building in an expeditious manner with his timesheets up to date.

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