12256: SC Johnson’s Shifty Shifts.

Chicago Business Journal Advertising Reporter Lewis Lazare wrote a column titled, “The great migration: [SC Johnson] quietly shifts key ad accounts to Energy BBDO from Ogilvy”—and it looks like another clear case of Corporate Cultural Collusion involving Omnicom.

In 2011, Energy BBDO and Ogilvy won all of the SC Johnson business originally handled by Draftfcb. According to Lazare, “an [SC Johnson] spokeswoman…said…that the company is ‘going through a review exercise’ and added ‘it’s typical we would do this as contracts are up.’” Um, what the fuck is a “review exercise”—some sort of corrupt calisthenics? Are other agencies being invited to compete for billings? Or does SC Johnson’s boasts of being “A Family Company” mean it keeps business in the family via a nepotistic style?

Lazare speculated on the reasons behind SC Johnson surreptitiously shifting accounts from Ogilvy to Energy BBDO:

In the spring of 2013, long after [SC Johnson] had split up its advertising business between Energy BBDO and Ogilvy, Salman Amin arrived at [SC Johnson] as its chief operating officer after having served as global chief marketing officer at PepsiCo for a number of years.

At PepsiCo, Amin would have come to know BBDO and its flagship New York office quite well. BBDO for decades worked with PepsiCo on its flagship Pepsi cola brand and other PepsiCo products.

Sources say Amin had long held BBDO in high esteem. So Ogilvy may not have been too surprised to see a big chunk of its [SC Johnson] business start to move to Energy BBDO over the past year after Amin had settled in at the home products giant.

If Lazare is correct, it appears Omnicom is extending its Corporate Cultural Collusion tactics from PepsiCo and related Quaker Oats to SC Johnson.

On the one hand, SC Johnson is a lousy client and creatives’ nightmare, consistently producing crappy campaigns. At the same time, the company makes claims such as “Integrity is part of our DNA”—plus, SC Johnson displays a deep commitment to diversity and inclusion. SC Johnson Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson officially stated, “…cultivating inclusion and diversity is much more fundamental than driving business results. It is a vital foundation to ensure that SCJ attracts, retains and inspires the best people. That’s why the company formally launched its first diversity initiative in 1992. And it’s why we continue to make it a top priority today and into the future.” Okay, so why does the place continue to conspire with White advertising agencies where exclusivity reigns and diversity has been denied forever?

Sorry, but no amount of Glade candles can mask the stink emanating from the “review exercise” being conducted between SC Johnson, Energy BBDO and Omnicom. It’s simply an example of nepotism, cronyism and other assorted isms at work.

12242: Singing For Scents.

Glade hired singer Kevin Ross to serenade holiday scented candles via a new spot from Ogilvy. Wonder if OgilvyCulture was called in to consult on—or even co-create—this contrived, clichéd and concept-free commercial.

9264: Firing And Hiring At Draftfcb Chicago.

Labor Day News: Draftfcb in Chicago was fired by longtime client SC Johnson, and subsequently axed at least 100 employees. Yet the Agency of the Future is still recruiting for fresh candidates via TalentZoo and other job sites. After dumping workers into the Windy City streets, Draftfcb President-CEO Laurence Boschetto declared, “We consider ourselves a ‘human organization,’ one that deeply cares for the well-being of all our employees, even those for whom we don’t currently have a place in our company. That is why we wanted to help as many of them as possible get jobs within the industry. This will hopefully result in an easier transition for them and for the SC Johnson business. We realize that providing such assistance on the heels of a long, arduous review is certainly not typical, but it underscores why our Chicago agency has been named one of the best places to work in the city and state 15 times over the past five years.” Right. Wonder if the ‘human organization’ is spending as much time helping the terminated as they are seeking newbies to join one of the best places to work in the city and state.

9142: Diversity Or Diversion For SC Johnson?

Now that Ogilvy and Energy BBDO have officially been named as AORs for SC Johnson, expect both shops to go on hiring binges. After all, the two offices are relatively small compared to Chicago’s Draftfcb, and they do not currently have the human resources to handle the incoming SCJ assignments.

“Obviously we’ll be expanding the agency further,” said Energy BBDO President and CEO Tonise Paul in a recent interview. “It’s a natural trajectory when you’re in a growth phase as an agency. We’ve had other phases in our history where we’ve had growth spurts, and it really makes for incredibly exciting times.”

It will be incredibly exciting to see the diversity of candidates considered for positions. The Ogilvy website presents quite a commitment to creating an inclusive workplace, as does the website for BBDO parent Omnicom. Additionally, the SC Johnson website features a personal/personnel pledge from Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson.

Given that Ogilvy and Energy BBDO are owned by major holding companies—WPP and Omnicom, respectively—it’s a safe bet that the corporate bean counters are furiously working to determine the exact FTE formulas for profitability. The Chief Financial Officers will definitely be heard on how to proceed. But have the Chief Diversity Officers even entered the picture yet?

WPP Overlord Martin Sorrell and Omnicom Overlord John Wren publicly agree on the talent issues within their companies. However, neither leader has achieved much in the area of diversity. Sorrell openly admitted his network does a lousy job of recruitment and retention—and to be clear, Sorrell was talking about recruiting and retaining White people. Wren charged his agencies to come into compliance with the agreements made with the New York City Commission on Human Rights by 2008. To date, the bulk of network hype on the matter involved the assembly of a Diversity Development Advisory Committee and anointing a new Chief Diversity Officer.

Will soon-to-be-ex-Draftfcb drones migrate to Ogilvy and Energy BBDO? Or will the shops exclusively appoint friends, family and former partners? The shifting of $1 billion in billings presents a unique opportunity for WPP, Omnicom and SC Johnson to deliver on their promises regarding diversity and inclusion—or to perpetuate the outdated practices that have stifled progress for over 60 years. Which, incidentally, is roughly the same amount of time that Draftfcb and SC Johnson held a professional relationship.

9096: Adweek’s Delayed Dullness on Draftfcb.

Don’t mean to keep bashing Adweek, but the publication grows lamer every day. Consider its coverage on the SC Johnson-Draftfcb split—arguably the biggest industry-related news story of the month. Advertising Age reported on the breakup Thursday evening, following the lead of Crain’s Chicago Business, and even provided supplemental and updated information today. Hell, blogs were delivering the latest perspectives on the shift too. Adweek countered by lazily coughing up 400+ words on the event late Friday morning. Meanwhile, Editorial Director Michael Wolff is shuttling around London like a Sherlock Holmes wannabe, seeking smoking guns for the Rupert Murdoch controversy.

9093: SC Johnson Finally Fires Draftfcb.

Crain’s Chicago Business reported Draftfcb lost $65 million in revenue, as SC Johnson reassigned its billings to Ogilvy and Energy BBDO. The firing is actually not news, as everyone has been predicting the move for quite some time. Draftfcb leadership will probably blame the dumping on newly hired CCO Todd Tilford. Oh, and count on Howard Draft to continue admitting that 80 percent of his shop’s work is shit. The figure just won’t include stuff for SC Johnson anymore. One thing is certain: Lots of people who had nothing to do with the shift will lose their jobs—while the assholes who had everything to do with the client’s defection will remain gainfully employed. And no amount of Glade PlugIns can cover the stink.

DraftFCB loses entire S. C. Johnson account

By Kate MacArthur

(Crain’s) — In a big blow, Chicago ad agency DraftFCB has lost its $65-million-revenue global account with S. C. Johnson & Son Inc., which is splitting the work between Chicago-based roster agencies Ogilvy & Mather and EnergyBBDO, Crain’s has learned.

After seven months of back and forth, the Racine, Wis.-based maker of home care products including Glade air fresheners, Raid pest control sprays and Windex glass cleaner will end its nearly 60-year relationship with DraftFCB, according to two executives close to the situation.

None of the agencies nor S.C. Johnson returned calls requesting comment.

Half of the work, valued altogether at nearly $1 billion in billings, will go to EnergyBBDO and the other half to Ogilvy & Mather, DraftFCB senior managers learned this evening. S.C. Johnson plans to issue a formal statement later Thursday night.

“Every assignment that DraftFCB had domestically and internationally will be gone,” said one of the executives with knowledge of the move. The assignments likely will begin transitioning over the fall.

S. C. Johnson Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson contacted Michael Roth, chairman and CEO of DraftFCB’s New York-based parent Interpublic Group of Cos., at the close of business Thursday.

S. C. Johnson in December announced the global review that included roster agencies for advertising, digital and Internet, shopper marketing, promotions, direct marketing, and media buying and planning.

The company had narrowed the contenders to DraftFCB, Ogilvy & Mather and Energy BBDO. DraftFCB made its final pitch on June 1.

8518: SCJ RFI = BS.

Adweek reported on the RFI—request for information—floating among potential competing advertising agencies in the global marketing review for S.C. Johnson brands. Of course, there’s no mention of probing agencies about their records and positions on diversity. The SCJ website features an extensive Diversity & Inclusion section, replete with mantras from Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson, an Office of Diversity, a Supplier Diversity program, awards and more. Yet the corporation that dubs itself “a family company” appears to have zero problem marrying agencies where exclusivity is a household tradition. Sorry, Glade® Plugins® cannot mask the stink of hypocrisy being displayed by SCJ.

Inside S.C. Johnson’s RFI

Draftfcb has the most business at risk

By Andrew McMains

S.C. Johnson seems fixated on process, proprietary tools and effectiveness.

Those are some of the key words that pop up most often in a request for information circulating among interested agencies in S.C. Johnson’s global review of marketing services, which began in December. In short, the maker of Pledge, Windex and Raid wants to know as much about how agencies work as the work they produce.

In separate sections, the 16-page RFI probes agency capabilities in integrated marketing, global brand building, strategy, creative, media, promotions, digital/direct/CRM marketing and account management/operations.

The latter section asks shops to “describe how you are able to effectively, flexibly and cost affordably deploy your agency talent and resources for a global client” and how you “help your clients drive down significant costs while maintaining a quality product.” In particular, S.C. Johnson is interested in how agencies have trimmed the cost of marketing and production—be it in traditional, digital or promotional marketing.

Sources estimated that less than a dozen agencies received the document. Replies were due on Friday, followed by an additional 13 case histories by Feb. 18, according to a time line in the RFI. Based on the submissions, the client will invite a more select group to participate in a round of capabilities presentations in mid-March.

In play are traditional advertising duties, media duties, direct marketing efforts, promotional efforts, digital marketing and retail marketing. Total revenue is estimated at $80 million-$90 million.

The incumbents—including Interpublic Group units Draftfcb (lead creative duties), R/GA (digital), Initiative (media), Mullen (Shout) and WPP Group’s OgilvyAction (retail marketing)—have been invited to defend. R3:JLB in Chicago is managing the process.

Draftfcb, which also handles some media planning and direct marketing duties on select brands, has the most business at risk, given that S.C. Johnson is its largest global client. Sources estimate that the Racine, Wis.-based client supplies some $50 million in revenue to the shop annually.

In the RFI, S.C. Johnson describes itself as a family-owned and -managed business with more than $8 billion in annual sales and about 12,000 employees.