6009: Major Withdrawals Of Loyalty.

Last week, the Associated Press presented a nice story on the Washington Mutual/JPMorgan Chase drama, examining the contradictions posed by connecting two very different personalities. As the piece pointed out, WaMu has built its image by dissing competitors like Chase. Now the upstart will be working for the stodgy, old White guys.

Meanwhile, Wachovia Bank stunned the advertising community—especially new AOR O&M—by revealing it was being bought by rival Citibank. The trade press and blogs obsessed over this tale too, mostly focusing on Ogilvy’s colossal misfortune.

Yet it doesn’t seem as if many have considered the deep, long-term damage these events inflict on our industry—damage that reaches far beyond the pains associated with lost profits.

The WaMu incident shows that branding is growing increasingly irrelevant. Categories like telecommunications have surely contributed to the degradation, as logos and taglines are regularly defaced, erased and replaced. How can agencies and clients hope to build customer relationships when brand characters undergo more radical transformations than Michael Jackson?

The O&M incident shows that adpeople are growing increasingly irrelevant. Constant encounters with nomadic CMOs and numbers-crunching holding companies leave few agency grunts feeling in control of their professional destinies. Why pledge allegiance to clients and BDAs when you’re viewed in terms of billable hours?

Loyalty—whether from the clients, the customers or the cubicles—is becoming extinct. And you can take that to the bank. Although there are no guarantees your bank will still be around when you get there.