Cutbacks Rock McCann Unit Thunder House

The interactive boom has gone bust for Thunder House Online Marketing Communications, where roughly a dozen employees have been laid off.
Recent account shifts and general economic uncertainty were blamed for the cuts at the agency’s offices in Cambridge, Mass., and Palo Alto, Calif., sources said.
Precipitating the layoffs was the decision in September by Thunder House parent McCann-Erickson in New York to resign its AT&T business for Sprint, sources said. AT&T had been one of Thunder House’s largest clients, and the departure of that business led to a centralization of media planning and buying functions in Thunder House’s New York office, sources said.
McCann representative Stuart Alter confirmed the layoffs and said no additional cuts are planned for McCann’s other interactive offices.