Staffen’s Administrative Role Is Reduced; Pressure Is on Scarpelli
CHICAGO – John Staffen, the top creative on DDB Worldwide’s McDonald’s account, has had his administrative role reduced, forcing the agency to refigure how to manage the creative portion of its largest account. Staffen was tapped for the group creative director’s post less than a year ago.
Most of Staffen’s administrative duties for McDonald’s have been turned over to Bob Scarpelli, the agency’s vice chairman and chief creative officer. Scarpelli has been talking to several senior creatives in the past several months about filling a top role at the agency to reduce his workload – apparently in addition to the hunt for an upper-level “creative manager” on McDonald’s, sources said.
Scarpelli could not be reached for comment last week.
Staffen said his administrative tasks are being reduced so he can focus more on creating McDonald’s ads, as opposed to scheduling and overseeing teams.
“It’s not the best use of John to have him spread over the account like that, and probably not the best way to service the account,” DDB chairman and chief executive officer Keith Reinhard said last week.
“The whole thing is designed to give me more time to be a creative on McDonald’s,” he said. “I like doing the work.”
Staffen was shifted to Chicago from DDB in New York last August to take over as full-time creative chief on the McDonald’s business after a year-long search. He replaced Jim Ferguson, who was splitting his time between working on McDonald’s in Chicago and serving as head of DDB’s Dallas office. Ferguson is now heading the creative department at Young & Rubicam, New York.
At the time of Staffen’s hire, DDB said McDonald’s demanded a daily presence in Chicago and at its Oak Brook, Ill., headquarters. But Staffen, who oversaw a dozen or more creative teams, has recently spent the majority of his time in New York, where he has maintained a home, and shooting ads in Los Angeles. (Two weeks ago, for example, he was in L.A. working on DDB’s Oracle pitch.)
Several sources said Staffen is a better hands-on creative than he is a manager, and that he has drawn some criticism for selling his own work rather than developing others’. He has taken art direction credits on several of the spots in the agency’s latest pool of image work for the fast-food chain.
Staffen never hit it off with Roy Bergold, vice president, creative at McDonald’s, who holds considerable sway over the company’s advertising, one source said. That rift contributed to his changed role, this source said.
Insiders also said the agency has struggled to develop an organizational structure for the massive account. While the agency is not thought to be in trouble on the account, Scarpelli is under pressure to improve the agency’s creative strategy.
Scarpelli’s team has been hit with some key defections. Bob Merlotti, the creative director credited with the line “Did somebody say McDonald’s,” moved to J. Walter Thompson earlier this year to work under former DDB creative executive Dennis Ryan. Staffen’s copywriting partner, David Lowe, left the agency recently to head up the Burger King account at Ammirati Puris Lintas in New York.
The tag has been under fire, but is expected to last at least the year.
McDonald’s and DDB executives have held several meetings in an attempt to develop a new strategy or replacement for that tagline. ¡
DDB Again Shifting McD's Creative
