As it happens, there’s more to the JWT Inside piece than we knew when we informed you yesterday. We decided to write another post rather than just update the last tidbit because there’s been so much going on that it really deserves its own space.
Here’s the agency’s side of the tale, courtesy a very astute, charming representative. No sarcasm, he/she was as transparent as a Kate Moss’s skin. Further clarification, all my questions were answered, that was a “eat a cheeseburger already” joke.
First things first. It all started about 18 months ago, when 44 year-old Rob Quish, JWT’s region president (managing its offices in Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, and Toronto since 2005) replaced standing CEO of JWT Specialized Communications, Tim Gibbons. Haven’t been able to confirm why that went down.
More after the jump.
Quish was tasked with bringing the agency together on a global basis. To do that, a nation-wide reorganization of the agency’s offices was instituted, including the details we mentioned yesterday.
The basic idea was to consolidate certain aspects of the business functions based on newly defined virtual capabilities. In other words — the agency’s former modus operandi was to be everywhere at once; to have a physical presence for their clients. Wow, how old school is that?
Now the thinking is more, as I said, virtual. Apparently JWT Inside hadn’t ever heard of a little thing called the internet, which allows one to be in many places at once (so to speak). Well maybe that’s a stretch, but nonetheless, they were long overdue to revamp SOPs. A major aspect of that overhaul was the creation of “hub” offices and the dissolution of other, less necessary aspects. Here’s how it went/is going down.
The Cleveland office is gonzo, all business from which is now in Chicago. Phoenix is also kaput, but we couldn’t determine where that work went — so we imagine it dried up with the Colorado River’s once overflowing waters. Heyoo.
JWTI Detriot’s creative department is no mas. That’s no more, in Spanish, sans the accent. As for Atlanta, about six months ago standing CD Kyle Bidlack was promoted to a national role that we didn’t find exciting enough to write down.
Bidlock was replaced and soon after there were a few small hiccups within the department, including the resignation of an interactive designer. That person was also replaced.
JWTI told us being effective meant having as many people in one place as they could, hence the creation of “hub” offices. Really, they’re the same as they were before but with a few more folks grouped together. Aforementioned hubs include New York, D.C., Atl., Dallas, Houston, SF, Detroit and the one dude they have working in Boca Raton, Fla.
The last little note we had mentioned pertained to a perceived lack of communication between the higher-ups and the lower-downs. So, CEO Quish will be addressing his employees through a “Global Agency Webcast.” Sounds personal, doesn’t it? Kinda like when “W” lets us all know the state of the union, during the State of the Union address. (ed’s note: we’re told the decision to have this meeting happened before our story broke, but who knows)
Anywho, Quish is apparently going to be filling everyone in on what’s going on sometime next week through his little State of the Inside speech. Makes you feel all warm and gooey Inside doesn’t it?
There’s been a few layoffs as part of the change over, as you can imagine. We presume, via our deductive reasoning skills, that there’s some sad former JWTI folks in Phoenix, Detroit, Atlanta, and Dallas.
More info on the Quish appointment, here.