Well to end the week, we’ll send you off with this note from a more than overworked addie. This is why we love anonymous tips, and why I wish more like this came in. With no further ado…
“WTF WPP? Yeah, it excels at M&A, but the methods it uses to suck assets out of one shop and arbitrarily attach them to their own holdings destroys careers. Part of the criteria for corporate leadership must be a how-to course in the Svengali-like power of positive Powerpoint to stun the worker bees long enough to keep any remaining clients from jumping ship before the deal’s done. Imagine, sitting in a conference room, watching the charming and diffident Brit in charge of the Chicago office give a foam core&151—it’s more sincere&151—presentation about how, yes, there’s STILL no work after its core business was transfered his stronghold, little income, and a huge overhead, but G2 is going to let the stalwart survivors of its Stamford shop rebrand and rebuild its offerings and come back, even better than before. Fast forward about 5 months to find a few remaining employees packing up client files to ship to Circle 1 in Norwalk, WPP’s newest, shiniest acquisition. Leadership used to mean responsibility. Kudos to Stamford’s own leadership who did their best to keep the agency afloat and its staff employed throughout the rape and plunder.”
Fight the pow…errrrr.