17296: Unionization Commoditization?

 

MediaPost published a perspective wondering if employees at White advertising agencies could and/or should unionize.

 

Agree with the author that the answer is a hard “no”—albeit for additional reasons.

 

First, White holding companies have orchestrated the commoditization of Adland, whereby people, places, and practices are repetitive, redundant, and replaceable. So, what issue would require wielding collective power and negotiation, as all places offer similar working conditions?

 

Second, given the global structures of White holding companies, unionizing would likely be a great logistical and legal challenge.

 

Third, Adland denizens have always held a “Looking Out For #1” viewpoint. It’s hard to unite self-absorbed, self-interested, selfish sellouts.

 

The only way to inspire unionization in Adland would be to create awards for such labor groups.

 

Can Agency Employees Unionize?

 

By Cory Treffiletti, Featured Contributor

 

The last few weeks have seen a lot of cuts in the agency landscape as consolidation and cost-cutting becomes a full-time job in and of itself. Lost in the headlines was an interesting idea about whether agency employees could and should unionize. It made me wonder if that were even possible in today’s world.

 

Starbucks employees were the last significant category of worker that I’m aware of able to unionize, and there are debates on whether that move was successful or not. 

 

The most immediate challenge I can see for agency employees is AI. AI gets the blame (or the credit, depending how you want to spin it) for creating efficiency in the advertising world in 2025 and 2026. When large companies do cuts, they speak to how AI created efficiency, which necessitated a smaller workforce and thus higher margins. 

 

If the rationale for cuts is that technology can replace workers, how can you expect an entire category of these workers to form a strong enough union that would give them any leverage or power? Holding companies could simply look at unionization as a way to execute further reductions.

 

I love agencies, so please don’t get me wrong or read into my tone. I am simply being realistic; I don’t think agency employees have any leverage here. You can fight back for more PTO and better flexibility for new parents. You can fight for lower-cost health care. You can fight for whatever you like, but in an economy that is shaping up to further differentiate the haves and have-nots, it’s difficult to gain leverage. This is further complicated when your bosses would love to have a reason to further replace your role with technology.

 

Agencies are built on creativity, but that creativity is truly only applied to, at best, 50% of the work. The other 50% or more is dedicated data, analytics and optimization. Those are automatable processes. One person can manage the work of 10 with the right tools. 

 

When I ran agencies, I used to estimate that one person could easily manage about $10 million in spend by themselves. With the tools available to them today, that number is closer to $100 million. That only leaves creative and creative thought as the true differentiators, and the percentage of those who are really great at those roles is much smaller. These people are rare, and they can still command the compensation that keeps them on staff. The rest are playing for scraps.

 

So that brings me back to the basic question of whether agency employees can unionize. I fear the answer is a hard “no.” They can talk about it, but with all the recent layoffs and reductions, there remains a large number of people waiting for a job, and they will step in to whatever role gets vacated by someone unwilling to bend to the needs of the holding company. As the industry becomes dominated more by technology, traditional agency employees have less a leg to stand on and therefore, not much leverage in the relationship.

 

Tell me I’m wrong? I would love to hear the opposing point of view on this one. The world needs agencies, and I want them to succeed. It just may be in a different paradigm from what we are all used to today.

16370: What Can Brown Do—And Pay—For You?

UPS says drivers can earn $42 per hour after four years of service. The Teamsters union will probably push for even more in the years ahead.

Essay 4726

This essay was inspired by recent items including:

• An Adweek piece by Paul Capelli that wondered if we should start a support fund for out-of-work adpeople.

• Tom Messner’s son asking why copywriters don’t receive residuals for taglines ala members of the WGA or The Screen Actors Guild.

• Rumors about the scheming behind Steve Beigel’s termination at Dentsu.

• The announcement that GSD&M is primed to fire roughly 200 employees.

• Continued instances of discrimination on Madison Avenue, with rising accusations of ageism.

• A cryptic post at wheresmyjetpack.blogspot.com dated November 15, 2007.

This all leads one to question: Will the advertising industry establish an employee union?

It seems inevitable, especially since Baby Boomers—who are wont to initiate legal actions and organize protests—will increasingly become “victims” in the current system.

As the mergers and holding company maneuvers carry on, the ground troops have less and less control over their ability to collect a paycheck. Let’s also consider the fickle nature of clients, where CMO roles average 18 months.

The standard agency drone can expect to lose his/her job for no reason, and with no warning.

The creative department has always been fueled by subjectivity, which means if the new ECD, CD or ACD decides you’re no good, you’re gone. Ditto when a client wants fresh blood.

Agencies have instructed managers to avoid giving stellar reviews in order to make layoffs easier. Heaven forbid a newly-inserted boss should suddenly deem a formerly great employee to be lousy.

It’s common to get axed on Friday, and see your replacement arrive on Monday. Discovering the search for a successor happened while you were clocking 70-hour weeks is quite a treat.

And shame on the shit holes that command managers to clean house, then ultimately eliminate the manager.

Some might argue the industry runs a “free agent” operation. But every professional sports league has a union for its free agents.

Others declare we enjoy a profession offering extraordinary salaries. These old school hacks are likely exploiting the original order, given that the rest of us know pay levels are dropping—and the younger generations will never see the wages of predecessors.

Shrinking incomes are coupled with dwindling severance packages. Severance, of course, is at the discretion of the employer. It’s a gift. And agencies are becoming really cheap gift-givers. If they could award you a McDonald’s gift card in lieu of cash, they would.

Negotiating a better severance package is often futile. Unless you’re in a protected class with air-tight evidence of wrongful termination, you have little recourse. Few have the opportunity to accuse an employer of forcing you to solicit prostitutes in Prague. Even fewer would pursue such a political and risky bargaining tactic.

Generating maximum results with minimum resources is the norm. Agencies stuff cubicles with the most inexpensive bodies possible, yet criticize the quality of the product. It’s no coincidence that Publicis’ latest integrated venture is titled Insight Factory—the laborers are slaving in a virtual sweatshop.

Unfortunately, Madison Avenue has historically been averse to progressive evolution, particularly when the sacred bottom line is affected. But how much longer will workers tolerate the outdated attitudes and practices? The corruption-filled chasm between the powers-that-be and the powerless expands daily.

It’s tough to witness top executives with golden parachutes while you’re getting a golden shower.