16189: VCCP BEE BS.

 

More About Advertising reported on VCCP launching an employee engagement division—VCCP BEE—designed to help companies attract and retain talent. Um, why would a White advertising agency feel qualified to consult on such matters? After all, Adland has demonstrated an absolute inability to create friendly and inclusive environments for minorities. And in recent years, the unhappiness expressed by White women, LGBTQI+, White people with disabilities, White people who are neurodivergent, White old people, etc. shows that the typical firm doesn’t even offer a safe space for Whites.

 

Sorry, but BEE sounds like a sting.

 

VCCP launches employee engagement division, VCCP BEE

 

By Emma Hall

 

VCCP is launching yet another division, this one is called BEE and is dedicated to brand and employee engagement — a hot topic during a talent crisis, and at a time when escalating numbers of staff take to social media to vent their frustrations with an employer.

 

Only 9% of employees are apparently engaged at work, which is where VCCP BEE comes in, with an offer to help companies attract and retain talent by “unifying the brand and employee experience” with help from its other divisions to bring in behavioural science, data, AI, branding, design, film, social, digital and experiential.

 

The offering is led by Huw Morgan, director of brand and employee engagement. He was previously at PR and social agency Good Relations, and has worked with brands including Channel 4, TfL, Johnson & Johnson, New Look and Asahi.

 

Morgan said: “Whether businesses are confronting turbulence or riding a wave of growth, VCCP’s integrated model enables us to uniquely challenge brands to consistently treat their people like valued customers, to attract talent and keep them informed, engaged and motivated.”

 

Adrian Coleman, founder and Group CEO at VCCP, said: “Our mission at VCCP is to challenge the bad habits of the industry and BEE is our latest example of this.”

 

According to The Society for Human Resource Management, it costs up to 60% of an employee’s salary to replace them, and even more if you take other factors like impact on culture, morale and knowledge into account.

12104: Unhappy Campers.

Digiday published a story titled: Why agency people are so unhappy—which drew 95 comments from visitors over the course of a week. AgencySpy countered with its own take on the Digiday piece, drawing over 50 comments in a day. It’s hard to view either comment thread very seriously. After all, Digiday’s audience is not advertising agency-friendly. In fact, it’s highly unlikely the typical Digiday visitor even understands agency life, as most of them have never experienced it firsthand. On the other hand, the typical AgencySpy visitor is just plain unfriendly—with a limited understanding of life, period. The two audiences appear to ignore the general unhappiness among workers across all fields in the United States—and around the world. It’s nothing unique to advertising agencies, and trying to claim that it is merely demonstrates ignorance common to both sites’ fans. As well as both sites’ staffers.

9567: Draftfcb Seeking Executioner.

Talent Zoo posted the following job listing:

Draftfcb is seeking an individual to provide mid-level HR operational support to the HR Generalist team. As a member of the HR Generalist team this individual will have exposure to all disciplines within the HR Department and work with these teams in partnership with the generalist; ideally the individual will have an interest in pursuing a career path within the HR Department.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborates with the Director and HR Managers to think through organization needs and generate program ideas, ensuring that they align with business strategy & goals
• Supports HR Managers in servicing client base. Examples of activities include:
– Drafting broad-based correspondence
– Conducting exit interviews
– Facilitating Orientation/onboarding process
– Analyzing turnover information and compilation of exit interviews
– Managing Performance Management process/logistics

Wow, dealing with the exit interviews at Draftfcb would require logging serious overtime hours.

9143: Trumping Trolls & Digital Defamation.

Gee, ReputationDefender ought to be posting its banners at AgencySpy—the service would make a fortune.

9138: Contextual Advertising Or Not?

Google—or whatever device matches digital advertising to content—is messed up. Take the banner ad above, for example, which appeared at AdPulp. The banner was likely placed at the site because the posts there often reference advertising agencies and their clients—which share zero characteristics with the clients that law firms might seek. So it doesn’t really make sense for this banner to be on AdPulp. Unless firms specializing in employment law realize adpeople are increasingly pursuing legal action for wrongful termination and discrimination.

8815: StrawberryFrog Makes Froggy Look Smart.

Adweek reported on the StrawberryFrog fiasco, offering more dim-witted details. Participants and plaintiffs are volleying barbs:

“This is a contract dispute with a former employee with the firm and it’s totally false and baseless,” said Ramesh Rajan, a partner in the company. “This disgruntled former employee left the firm two months ago and is lashing out at everyone else.”

In the suit, [former CSO Ilana Bryant] describes [CEO Scott Goodson] as an “incompetent and emotionally unstable boss” whose “erratic and dictatorial behavior” have made it impossible to work there.

Okey-doke. It appears that Goodson’s memo to the troops was designed to offer preliminary damage control. Regardless, there are simply better and more professional ways to handle matters. When Adweek reporters called, StrawberryFrog officials could have said, “No comment.” Even a standard line such as, “It is not the company’s policy to discuss personnel matters with the press,” would have done the trick. Instead, the agency wonks took a Heather LeFevre approach and opted to engage in a public pissing match that ultimately makes StrawberryFrog look like it’s run by, well, toads.

8813: StrawberryFrog Hops Into Shitter Again.

AgencySpy posted on the latest fiasco at StrawberryFrog involving a dispute with a former employee. A memo allegedly sent by agency honcho Scott Goodson read:

Dear Frogs: a former employee, Ilana Bryant, left our agency couple of months back and now she is in a contractual dispute with the agency. She is saying really negative things about the agency. These are false and baseless. She is trying to get as much as she can from us. This should not be a reflection on the success we have achieved and the hard work we have all put into our work. This company has been a success since its founding twelve years ago. We have very strong and continued relations with many clients and we remain committed to our future success and the growth of a great agency.

Wow. The top frogs at StrawberryFrog are fucking idiots. Last November, MultiCultClassics commented on another StrawberryFrog debacle, whereby a Director of Planning launched an online smear campaign against someone she had apparently hired. At the time, MultiCultClassics declared the woman’s rant was wildly unprofessional and potentially unlawful. Now it appears she was only following the lead of Goodson. Is there not a Director of Human Resources at StrawberryFrog? Isn’t the standard operating procedure to keep stuff like this confidential? Honestly, what is the benefit of openly sharing the sordid details?

Goodson wrote, “[The former employee] is saying really negative things about the agency.” Somebody tell the man that such public displays by senior management say really negative things about the agency too.

8193: StrawberryFrog Has A New Wart.

Adfreak and Agency Spy spotlighted a moment of insanity perpetrated by the Director of Planning at StrawberryFrog in Amsterdam. Heather LeFevre sought to “remove a cancer from adland” by launching an online campaign to blacklist an ex-employee. MultiCultClassics will forgo rehashing the silly details, opting instead to briefly swing the microscope in LeFevre’s direction—as well as conduct an experiment in Web investigation.

First, LeFevre has only held her position since July 2010, and her previous roles were at a Senior Planner level. In other words, she’s a newbie leader. Actually, it’s clearly premature to label her a leader, especially given her actions in this scenario. So let’s call her a newbie manager.

Second, when LeFevre announced her new StrawberryFrog gig on her blog, she indicated the need to immediately hire four planners. Hence, the newbie manager was faced with having to quickly assemble a team—a daunting task even for a seasoned veteran. It’s safe to say she failed in her opening assignment.

Third, LeFevre once offered her opinion on the characteristics of a successful planner. She said, “From my perspective, I think mastering the art of conversation is one of the most important skills to develop. How to Talk to Anyone is a great book to help. You have to build rapport with surly creatives and clients that you may not see all that often. They will invite you into their inner circle if they trust you, find you interesting and want to talk to you. It doesn’t matter how smart you are if you haven’t got that.” Too bad the surly Director of Planning didn’t tap her masterful conversational skills when confronted with a challenging report. She should consider checking out a few basic books on professional leadership.

Fourth, LeFevre has obviously put StrawberryFrog in a bad spot. Forget the possible legal issues, since MultiCultClassics isn’t familiar with employment law in Amsterdam. Her immature rant has completely shifted the focus away from the agency’s work. Additionally, future candidates might think twice before pursuing a job with the place. Hell, clients might give pause before partnering with StrawberryFrog. Someone holding the title of Director of Planning should be an ambassador for her agency. She should at very least be responsible for briefs involving clients, not coworkers.

Fifth, LeFevre perpetuated a sad reality in our industry: Asshole employees are ultimately outnumbered by asshole bosses. And one has to wonder if LeFevre represents the common occurrence of an asshole employee getting elevated to become an asshole boss.

Sixth, LeFevre’s 17-page document unintentionally displays her poor planning abilities. As always, the planner compiles reams of redundant, fuzzy and irrelevant information, demands that the mess be read in its entirety and expects everyone to decipher its usefulness.

When LeFevre originally told the world that StrawberryFrog had named her Director of Planning, she joked, “They might have been smoking something, that’s still to be confirmed.” Um, looks like she just supplied the confirmation.

UPDATE: Some of the links above may be useless, as LeFevre’s blog—featuring the original condemnation—is suddenly restricting access to visitors. Perhaps the Director of Planning received a call from the Director of Human Resources.

UPDATE TWO: Well, LeFevre’s blog is accepting visitors again—but the infamous post has vanished. Perhaps LeFevre can use her keen investigative skills to unravel the mystery behind its digital disappearance.

Essay 4873

A recent post at Agency Spy speculated on the state of affairs at Nicholson Kovac, intimately detailing management shifts and high-level departures. While scanning the insider scoops, one can’t help but wonder, “Who the fuck is Nicholson Kovac?”

In case you’re interested—and you really shouldn’t be—the 25-year-old Kansas City agency boasts integrated services for a handful of nondescript clients. (That’s co-founder Pete Kovac pictured above.) With all due respect, it’s doubtful anyone outside of the Kansas City metro area has ever heard of the joint. Hell, it’s safe to bet the majority of lifelong KC residents couldn’t identify the shop.

But there it is, taking an online beating for the entire ad universe to witness. A Nicholson Kovac executive even went so far as to tell Agency Spy, “The false rumors and allegations you reference appear to be the work of someone attempting to use your blog as a means of settling some personal score. Whomever is circulating these falsehoods may well be subject to legal action, and we would advise Agency Spy not to become party to this obvious attempt to malign NK.”

Yikes. And yawn.

Yet behind the overblown drama is a semi-disturbing trend: The Revenge of the Disgruntled Ad Employee. Or in most cases, Ex-Employee.

The terminated are becoming the terminators. They’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take this anymore. So they’re going postal with posts, broadcasting the dysfunctional, irresponsible and allegedly criminal transgressions of former bosses. Why, there’s more dirty laundry than a Tide with Bleach convention.

The bombed agencies probably have themselves to blame for the mean-spirited mudslinging. Incompetent leaders ultimately rally armies of enemies. Plus, as industry-wide downsizing continues, layoffs are bungled with increased insensitivity. Axed employees grudgingly sign separation agreements and collect minimal severances, seething to see senior honchos still enjoying the traditional perks.

Blogs like Agency Spy and Adrants routinely feature threads packed with personal attacks and angry exposés. AdScam has essentially become a menagerie of canned IPG staffers ready to rip the inept company’s management 24/7.

There’s a lesson to be learned, although it’s unlikely the offending agencies will catch on. Hence, here’s the idiot-proof lowdown. If you shit on your workers, expect to get excrement tossed back in your direction. And if you don’t want your ignorant, immoral and illegal acts published on the World Wide Web, well, stop committing ignorant, immoral and illegal acts.

Just a thought.