According to multiple sources, DDB San Francisco laid off around 15 percent of its office, or approximately 15-20 individuals, in late June as the Cannes Lions festival came to an end.
This move came about as a direct result of Clorox consolidating its business with FCB and mcgarrybowen in late April following a review launched last December. The agencies in question beat out VB&P and DDB, which brought in staffers from as far afield as New Zealand. A reliable source also claims that Goodby Silverstein & Partners declined to participate in the review after the client reached out.
The Clorox account was the reason DDB was able to re-open its San Francisco office in 1996 after a three-year hiatus. Prior to that date, the business had been with the FCB organization for more than 70 years.
Our sources claim these cuts followed the departure of two unnamed executive vice presidents the previous week and that one of the most prominent individual employees to leave during this round of revolving door was group creative director Jim Bosiljevac.
Bosiljevac’s LinkedIn page supports this claim as it shows his tenure with the agency concluding at the end of May, when he relocated to Austin. It’s unclear which executive vice presidents left, and we can’t confirm the specific number of departures. But multiple sources have independently put the total at approximately 15 percent of the Bay Area office’s total staff.
We reached out to DDB several times last week, but they have yet to respond. We will update this post with relevant details if and when they become available.