When last we heard from MRY, the Publicis unit formerly known as Mr. Youth and its sister organization Big Fuel had begun a “planned reorganization” of internal teams that involved a small series of layoffs primarily affecting program directors in New York.
It now seems that this move was part of a larger shift which will include an increased focus on West Coast operations and a new office in Seattle.
Sources tell us that recent changes in Manhattan involved MRY downsizing its HR and UX departments. CMO David Berkowitz didn’t address that directly, but he did write that the agency has expanded its team in San Francisco and will soon open its newest office in the home of Starbucks, Amazon and Frasier.
“We are continually evolving with an eye to the future. At times this includes talent calibration to best align to client needs going forward. Right now, that means shifting some resources to the West Coast to focus on our growing accounts with Visa, Microsoft, and others, as we have grown our presence out West from 5 to 30 people. This month, we are cutting the ribbon on our new Seattle office, and we’re looking for a great client service lead there, in case your readers are interested in applying.”
It’s not clear at the moment what that shift of resources entails in terms of staff relocation, but MRY is currently looking for an account director in Seattle and a New York-based strategy director if you’re curious.
The San Francisco office mentioned in Berkowitz’s quote has also been looking for a new ECD since March. The shop hired former McCann/BBDO/Y&R/DDB creative Brad Cohn to fill the role, but he lasted less than four months before leaving to serve as chief creative officer at Tampa’s Paradise Advertising, Digital and Entertainment.
No word on when MRY will name his replacement.
The agency’s coolest project in recent months was the video, released in May, in which its own staffers’ moms valiantly tried to explain what employees of a modern digital advertising agency do, exactly. In March, Berkowitz also released a drone spoof video and told us that ECD David Weinstock would replace outgoing CCO Cedric Devitt (who became Big Spaceship’s first creative leader).
More announcements to come, then.