- Noreen O'Leary

NEW YORK Shattered by the loss of more than $100 million in automotive billings from American Suzuki, DentsuNext has been shuttered by its parent, Dentsu Holdings USA, and 15 staffers have been cut between operations in New York and Brea, Calif.

The company is moving DentsuNext's Sharp Electronics business and seven media employees into mcgarrybowen, which Dentsu acquired in November. It is also folding the Suzuki motorcycle account (along with three creative and account exec employees who work on the business) into Dentsu's Los Angeles operations.

"This was the planned closure of DentsuNext," Tim Andree, Dentsu America CEO, confirmed.
 
DentsuNext never recovered after losing the Suzuki business in July to independent Siltanen & Partners, which began its relationship with the client on a project basis just three months earlier. Suzuki had been at Dentsu and its precursor, Colby & Partners, since 2000. At the time of the loss, the Brea office had more than 50 employees.
 
The axe fell on Wednesday at a 1 p.m. meeting, when Dentsu Holdings evp, director of finance Richard Summo told staff on both coasts that DentsuNext was closing down.
 
Even in a business where layoffs have become an unfortunate daily reality, staffers are upset about the handling of the closure.
 
"Dentsu knew about this for months and now they're just telling people. In some cases, staff have been given just a week-and-a-half notice and two weeks severance," said a source. "From a business perspective, [the closing] makes perfect sense. But some of these people have been here four, five, six, seven years. Sharp has been profitable from the beginning and now this -- there's no loyalty. Until Dentsu builds a culture of caring, they're never going to succeed in the U.S."
 
"We've tried to handle this as compassionately as we can," Andree responded, saying the company does not comment on severance agreements.