Earlier this week we posted on an ongoing wave of executive departures at Cheil Worldwide’s The Barbarian Group in New York.
Today, as promised, we have more information on that development. The agency’s current CEO Peter Kim confirmed in an official statement that a restructuring has occurred.
“The evolution of the tech industry and its impact on consumer communications has transformed the agency landscape. In response, The Barbarian Group reorganized and refined its focus this week in support of client needs. We are confident that this strategic shift in business direction will make us a stronger company in the long run.”
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Throughout the week, our sources gave us a bit more detail on this strategic shift. Many of Barbarian’s top executives and department leaders have left or will be leaving after they finish negotiating the details of their departures.
According to tipsters, these names include:
- Owner/CXO Keith Butters
- Chief creative officer Edu Pou
- Head of talent/HR Michelle Prota
-
Head of account management Sherri Chambers
We also hear–again from multiple sources–that the restructuring included at least one round of layoffs beyond the names mentioned above, all of whom will officially be resigning from their positions.
Kim declined to elaborate on the scale of the layoffs or Cheil’s plans to remake the agency. But we do hear that the total number dismissed beyond the department leaders is in the double digits.
An inside source also tells us that our assumptions regarding an all-but-unrecognizable Barbarian Group that will emerge from this shift are accurate.
[Image via Clive Wilkinson Architects]