Advertising Layoffs Roundup: Jobs Cut at Crispin, Fallon, RBW, Ogilvy and other WPP units
UPDATE: Crispin Porter & Bogusky has laid off 60 of its 900 employees. In an email statement the company said:
“In response to the current economic climate, advertising budgets are being reduced in virtually every industry. On a comparative basis, CP+B¹s business is doing well but we are not immune to the constriction of the economy. Our two main responsibilities are to our clients and to our employees. And in order to most prudently manage our business, we have taken the difficult step of reducing our staff by 60 of our 900+ employees.
We do not anticipate any further staff reductions. These are extraordinary times and we hope that we will not have to do this again.”
The BNET Ad Agency Layoff Counter has now broken the 7,000 mark, standing at 7,056 jobs lost.
The Publicis Groupe-owned Fallon has made ten redundancies from its London office — The staff cuts, which span all of the agency’s departments, were announced on Friday during an all-staff meeting. The ten employees are now on a two-week consultation period. [Source: Brand Republic]
Dollar Tree’s Advertising Agency files for bankruptcy — RBW advertising agency founded almost 25 years ago has filed for bankruptcy protection and laid off virtually everyone. As the recession drags on, they have seen “significant reduction in our clients’ marketing budgets for 2009,” said chief executive Grant O’Neal. Clients are also putting off longer-term projects. “There was not enough to keep us afloat,” O’Neal said. In its filing, the Raleigh company lists about $1.6 million in assets and $7.3 million in liabilities. The company estimates that it has between 200 and 999 creditors. It’s clients include BB&T, Dollar Tree, Lowes, and Old Dominion Freight Line, and complains that their ad spending hit the floor is what forced the bankruptcy. [Source: Tribble]
Following recent reviews at Lexis, Brunswick and Weber Shandwick, five per cent of Ogilvy’s 900 will depart, including both PR and advertising staff — In a statement issued to PRWeek, WPP-owned Ogilvy said cuts were a result of the ‘prevailing economic conditions’, adding ‘there will now follow a period of consultation with the affected employees’. [Source: Brand Republic]
Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
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