Today we received word of some big changes brewing at DDB New York.
The first hint came in June when the agency hired Chris Brown, who had been CEO of DDB Group Australia since 2012, to run its New York office. (Peter Hempel, CEO of DDB NY since 2005, is now chief executive of the larger DDB Group.)
Since then, DDB NY won the Iams and Eukanuba pet food brands accounts and began planning its larger restructuring; the biggest announcement in the near future will be the hiring of a new chief creative officer to lead the office’s newest incarnation. We don’t know exactly when the news will drop, but the change is coming — this yet-to-be-named CCO will aim to make the most of DDB New York’s existing talent while pushing for new business.
In the meantime, however, “restructuring” unfortunately means downsizing. Today the agency let what we believe to be a small percentage of its New York staffers go in the interest of better aligning its team with the coming changes.
We hear that DDB’s shift will include more leadership moves and that its long-term goal is to create a more efficient operation in Manhattan to better serve both current and future clients (while pitching some new business that might not have been considered in the past). No word on which departments were hit hardest today.
In short, expect significant announcements from DDB in the coming days and weeks. Updates when we receive them.