According to George Parker, this will appear in tomorrow’s Delaney Report.
Where in the world is Howard Draft? The question is being asked as Draft/FCB, the ad agency headed by Howard and owned by the Agency Holding company, Interpublic Group, continues to be hit by trouble.
Latest DFCB disturbance: DFCB’s troubled New York office is in the process of giving its creative chief, Chris Becker his walking papers.
IPG, in fact, is in the final stages of negotiations with a Becker replacement to oversee creative for the sagging DFCB/NY office. Becker’s expected ouster comes as DFCB/NY has turned in a lackluster new business performance, is suffering from low morale, and has been laying off staffers in big numbers.
Whoever comes in, however; will face a number of issues. The problem is that (DFCB President) Laurence Boschetto is running (DFCB) for Howard and he can’t get along with the creative people — his reputation is well known now.
People feel that he’s in over his head. And that’s causing problems. If you talk to (agency review) consultants, they will tell you that (DFCB’s) presentations are horrible, said one IPG executive Added an IPG executive, the real problem is that Howard is not engaged in the agency. He could do a lot of things with the agency if he wasn’t running off to Europe with his girlfriend. And it comes at a time when the
(DFCB) New York and Chicago offices are fighting with each other.