The Spy line was buzzing over the weekend with word that Team Detroit, which of course handles Ford North America ad duties, cut a bunch of staffers last week. Last we heard from the WPP-owned unit was when it hired former Allstate/GM senior exec Mark LaNeve as chief operating officer. We’ve yet to receive a response from the folks at Team Detroit, but tipsters are, as usual, floating some pretty big numbers in terms of staff affected (numbers we haven’t seen since the 2009 downturn).
One of those we’re hearing was affected by the agency’s move was EVP/chief media officer Andrew Prakken, who has spent the last eight years at Team Detroit and spent 14 prior on the communications/media side at JWT. Calls to Prakken were deferred to an assistant. Anyhow, we’ve put in some more inquiries to the agency this morning and will keep you posted if and when we hear more, As always, though, feel free to chime into the tips box or just email us.