Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Thinking about the troubles at McCann.


Ammirati and Puris.
Ally & Gargano.
Levine Huntley Schmidt & Beaver.
Scail, McCabe, Sloves.
Geer DuBois.
Geers Gross.
Bozell Jacobs.
Kenyon & Eckhardt.
Backer, Spielvogel.
Ted Bates.
Benton & Bowles.
Needham, Harper & Steers.
Rosenfeld, Sirowitz.
D'Arcy, McManus, Masius.
Dancer, Fitzgerald & Sample.
Compton.
Marstellar.
Marschalk.
Lowe-Marschalk.
Calet, Hirsch & Spector.
Della Femina, Travisano.
Erwin Wasey.
NW Ayer.
Leber Katz.
Benton and Bowles.
Wells, Rich, Greene.
Jack Tinker.
Norman Craig & Kummel.
Lord & Thomas.

Vita Brevis. Agencius Brevis-er.


The lifecycle of agencies is not long. It seems that for every agency that makes it to its 50th anniversary, there are dozens more that wither in adolescence. What happens is corporate ossification sets in. Or the greed of a few supersedes the ambitions of the many.

Before long, accounts leave. People leave. More accounts leave. More people leave. And then you wind up with no critical mass, no reason for being.

Big agencies like McCann won't disappear, certainly not overnight. They are valuable as worldwide advertising distribution networks. However, you have to wonder.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

George, how dare you post my resume on your blog. There are some people who believe the days of the BDA are slowly ending. They keep shrinking their agencies and offer ever poorer service to clients. I just listened to some drivel by the President of my agency that almost made me laugh out loud in the meeting. The lunatics are running the asylum and someone has to come in soon with a few straight jackets. Or maybe men of vision like you need to grow a set and start your own agency. that's what Marty Puris did. And Carl Ally. You've got millions stashed away you can use for a start up. Show us how its done.