BBDO Atlanta has undergone a round of staffing reductions in its Atlanta office, primarily affecting the office’s creative and production departments.
The layoffs are related to client AT&T moving its its entertainment division from Atlanta to El Segundo, California and the agency’s decision to open a Los Angeles office to service the account.
At this time, we have very little in the way of specifics regarding the changes.
“As previously announced, we are in the process of setting up an operation in Los Angeles to help service the AT&T Entertainment Group business,” a BBDO spokesperson said in a statement. “This involves transitioning responsibilities from Atlanta to L.A., resulting in some staff reductions in Atlanta, primarily in the areas of creative and production (as well as corresponding new hires in the LA region).”
The spokesperson added that the agency’s Los Angeles operations servicing AT&T “to be up and running by the end of the year.”
BBDO’s recent work for AT&T includes its “Terms and Conditions” campaign for DirecTV and a follow-up effort promoting DirecTV Now and starring Michael B. Jordan.
The Atlanta office went through some leadership changes earlier this year before the new office announcement in April. Former CEO Drew Drew Panayiotou left for a job running Chick-Fil-A’s “incubator” Red Wagon Ventures, and the agency replaced him by promoting GM Peter Bunarek to managing director.
Craig Miller and Marc Calamia then came aboard as group creative director and head of integrated production, respectively.