Wild Week for Freeman As 4 Top Staffers Exit

The departures last week of four key executives from Cliff Freeman and Partners left many staffers "frightened" and "shocked," sources said. But Cliff Freeman dismissed the week's events as anything but normal, saying, "that's advertising." Creative director Eric Silver, who was largely responsible for the shop's award-winning Fox Sports Net work, left abruptly on Wednesday. Two days earlier, director of new-business development Charles Rosen, associate creative director Jason Gaboriau and strategist Doug Cameron resigned to open their own New York shop, Amalgamated. On Thursday, CEO Cliff Freeman, president Arthur Bijur, strategic planning director Karen Evans and top account leader Pete Regan held an agencywide meeting to reassure staff that the "state of our client relationships is incredibly healthy," according to Freeman. "Our brand is one of the premier retail agencies and a creative beacon. We have a solid base on which to move forward."Freeman would not comment on any of the departures except to say, "We hire people who are attractive, and so they are always being courted. After a while, you realize that's advertising." He said acds Ari Merkin, Dawn McCarthy, Laura Fegley and Dan Morales are ready and able to assume more responsibility. They work on the agency's largest clients, Value City and DSW, with combined estimated billings of about $70 million. The other accounts, including Mohegan Sun ($40 million), Quizno's ($30 million) and Hollywood Video ($10 million), are all under Bijur's group. It is believed that Ben & Jerry's is interested in following Rosen, Gaboriau and Cameron to their new agency. Freeman said he informed his clients that some managers were leaving. None of them were perturbed, he said. Mohegan Sun vp of advertising George Galinsky told Adweek, "None of those executives have touched our business, so I'm not that concerned about their leaving." Other clients could not be reached or did not return calls.Freeman declined comment on Ben & Jerry's, but he said he was confident Fox Sports would remain with the agency.Sources said Silver and Freeman's relationship had become strained in recent months as three major accounts that Silver had worked on left the shop. Those accounts were: Midas ($40 million), now in review; Budget ($30 million), which moved to McCann-Erickson; and Mike's Hard Lemonade ($15 million), which left for The Ad Store. One source observed, "Eric makes a boatload of money and was working on just one account, Fox." Silver said, "I am currently in talks with other agencies. I am going to take my time and try to make the right decision." He declined to comment further. The agency, which has struggled in the past two years to keep accounts and win new ones, has also considered a merger with Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Omnicom shop Zimmerman & Partners, which helped it win Value City and DSW, the agencies said. On that topic, Freeman said, "We're not even thinking about a deal like that," adding this is not a good time to sell his agency. At 60, Freeman also said he has no intention of retiring. "I enjoy my job," he said. "No way. I'm far from giving up the ship."

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Wild Week for Freeman As 4 Top Staffers Exit

Kathleen Sampey

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Kathleen Sampey