11036: Buh-Bye, Boschetto.

Advertising Age reported former Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto has been replaced by former Y&R Advertising North America CEO Carter Murray. Current IPG Chairman CEO Michael Roth said, “We wish [Boschetto] well in his ongoing industry activity, particularly in the area of diversity and inclusion, where we will continue to work together.” Right. Why, Boschetto was a mere nine months shy of realizing his dream that by 2014 Draftfcb would be an organization that no longer used the term “diversity and inclusion.” Look for Murray to take the reins with the bold initiative. When hell freezes over.

DraftFCB’s New Global CEO Is 38-Year-Old Carter Murray

Energetic British Exec Will Replace Laurence Boschetto

By Rupal Parekh, Maureen Morrison

DraftFCB’s next global CEO will be 38-year-old Carter Murray, who for the past year has been head of Y&R’s North American operations.

Not only is the embattled Interpublic Group of Cos. agency getting a new leader, it’s poised for a major cultural shift under Mr. Murray. He has spent most of his career in Europe and been referred to as charming and super energetic by those who’ve worked with him in the past. It’s not only a quick ascent up the ladder to lead one of the biggest advertising agencies in the world, it’s also a formidable challenge.

Mr. Murray has signed on to take the reins from Laurence Boschetto, DraftFCB’s CEO of four years, after a brief transition period. A start date for the newly-anointed chief has not yet been determined however.

A formal search began last summer for a leader to succeed Mr. Boschetto, who’s overseen the network during a tumultuous three-and-a-half years that have been marked by significant client departures. (Mr. Boschetto joined the search process as part of an attempt at a smooth succession and will continue in a consulting role.)

The selection has been a huge focus for Interpublic senior management including Chairman-CEO Michael Roth, who’s acutely aware of the need to turn around the ship at DraftFCB. Mr. Murray is likely getting some broad leeway to make the changes he sees fit to improve the shop’s standing in adland.

Howard Draft will retain his executive-chairman post at DraftFCB, working with a number of the agency’s major clients and on special projects, but he’ll report to Mr. Murray, who’ll be based in New York.

“[Mr. Murray] understands consumer advertising and brands, has demonstrated the ability to motivate diverse teams and raise the quality of creative work, nurture client relationships and win global business,” Mr. Roth said in a statement. “This combination of skills and experience in a dynamic new leader is what the agency needs in order to evolve its integrated model and drive growth.”

Mr. Roth added: “We thank Laurence for his contributions to our search for his successor. … We wish him well in his ongoing industry activity, particularly in the area of diversity and inclusion, where we will continue to work together.”

“Carter brings energy, a new perspective and range of talents that will take us to the next level,” Mr. Boschetto said in a statement. “I’ll do everything to help him step into the CEO role seamlessly.”

In the wake of Mr. Murray’s his departure, Y&R named Matt Anthony CEO of Y&R Advertising North America. Mr. Anthony is a member of Y&R’s executive committee and founding partner of VML. He had for the last six months been running Y&R Australia.

Finding someone willing to take the challenge of re-energizing DraftFCB was no simple task. In November, Mr. Roth remarked during a Wall Street investor conference: “Hopefully we’ll be able to find someone.”

After a lengthy process—during which a number of Madison Avenue execs were approached, some who felt the fix-it job was too tall an order—the search was narrowed to three last month. Mr. Murray resigned from Y&R yesterday after just a year there.

“I like big challenges and I like big opportunities,” Mr. Murray told Ad Age. “And it would take a challenge and an opportunity as large as this for me to leave my current position. I do love [Y&R CEO] David Sable, and I’m really proud of the people I work with at Y&R. But it’s not every day that you get this kind of opportunity [at an agency] that we know has had some challenges but also has had some great client relationships. It’s one of those jobs that doesn’t come up every day.

“If you look at DraftFCB, the last thing they need is someone who comes charging in and tells them exactly how to do their jobs at the outset. I have a point of view on marketing and what I think is important, and am particularly passionate about the creative product and defining groundbreaking work. And that’s something I want to infuse more throughout the organization.”

A Brit who was educated in in the U.S.—he attended Duke University—Mr. Murray started his career at Leo Burnett in Chicago. He soon moved to Europe, where he’s spent most of his career. He worked for Leo Burnett in Germany as a regional account director and in London as a regional new-business director for Europe.

He joined Publicis in 2007. That’s where he really made his mark. During his tenure at the French holding company, he took Nestle from being Publicis’ fourth-largest account, and one that was declining in size, to the agency’s biggest account.

With experience in markets from Russia to Korea to Kenya to Switzerland, and with clients such as Nestle, P&G, Barclays, Coke and Ikea, Mr. Murray’s pedigree is far different than his predecessor’s.

Mr. Boschetto joined Draft in the agency’s New York office in 1997, a move prompted by his sale of Adler Boschetto Peebles—a Big Apple shop he founded—to Draft. He worked his way up from general manager to more senior roles. It was only a matter of years before he was being touted as Howard Draft’s heir apparent, and was promoted to president and chief operating officer, first of New York, and then (around the same time as the agency’s very public win-and-loss of the Walmart account) across the network. He’s been especially close to some clients, among them Beiersdorf.

His ascension to CEO came more than two years after the merger of Draft and Foote Cone & Belding. The marriage was a move that Interpublic touted as a way to combine the direct-marketing prowess of Draft with the creative abilities of FCB, but many industry executives said they predicted the merger was doomed because of clashing cultures and disciplines.

Initially there were some indications that the critics were wrong, given sizable new-business wins from the U.S. Census, Kraft, MillerCoors and Kmart. Above all, the shop was profitable.

But while Mr. Boschetto was at the helm, the shop’s fortunes turned. The past couple of years in North America have been incredibly rocky, marked by a string of account losses—prompting speculation that it was only a matter of time before there would be a change at the top.

The biggest hit came with the exit of one of DraftFCB’s biggest and oldest accounts: SC Johnson. The agency failed to hang on to the business after a review, losing to WPP’s Ogilvy and Omnicom Group’s EnergyBBDO. The loss stripped several global outposts of their biggest client and shuttered other international offices. The agency laid off about 10% of it staffers in its Chicago office, and 3% globally.

When the massive packaged-goods account departed after 58 years, SC Johnson was estimated to be worth $65 million in global revenue. But at its height years earlier, the account was believed to bring in as much as $80 million in global revenue for the agency. Though it was a small percentage—about 5 to 6%—of the agency’s global revenue at the time of the loss, the agency has been unable to recover the revenue with another large account win.

That loss was devastating, but another blow came with the loss of its MillerCoors business without a review. The brewer’s account went to Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi, which picked up Miller Lite, and a new WPP agency dubbed Cavalry was formed to handle Coors brands and new products. Layoffs again followed at DraftFCB, with the agency confirming about 5% of its Chicago office employees were affected.

Another marquee account, Taco Bell, has brought other Interpublic agencies such as Deutsch into the fold to handle creative work. While DraftFCB remains on the roster as the lead agency, TV work—part of a campaign Taco Bell said was its biggest—for the chain’s new Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Taco was created by Deutsch.

DraftFCB is facing yet another potential significant account defection from Kmart, a client since 2007. The struggling retailer began circulating requests for proposal in January; DraftFCB is said to be defending the business. That same month, DrafFCB shed its media operation, which was shifted to sibling Mediabrands.

While agencies are prone to going through up-and-down periods, two of the biggest criticisms of DraftFCB under Mr. Boschetto’s watch has been its failure to attract new business and inability to realize the promise of the benefits touted at the time of the merger. The agency has scored a string of small and midsize wins to help offset the loss of major legacy accounts—such as agency-of-record account for SeaWorld, Discover Card and Cox Communications—but it hasn’t picked up a major blue-chip lead creative account in some time.

That responsibility will now fall on the young Mr. Murray’s shoulders. The question is: Is he up to the challenge? One of the most powerful marketers in the world says Mr. Murray has a decent chance.

Tom Buday, head of marketing and consumer communication at Nestle, endorses Mr. Murray thusly on LinkedIn: “Carter is a highly committed professional who puts client needs at the top of his priorities, and brings valuable insight and perspective to the challenges at hand. Put simply, Carter is someone you can count on to deliver.”

8953: Draftfcb Celebrates Black Music Month.

This Draftfcb Press Release announced a Black Music Month celebration sponsored by the agency’s Black Employee Network. Draftfcb has a Black Employee Network? Where’s the press release on that? Hey, did parent company IPG celebrate Black Music Month by announcing Steve Stoute’s imminent departure?

MEDIA AND MUSIC MAVENS LAURENCE BOSCHETTO AND RYAN LESLIE CELEBRATE BLACK MUSIC MONTH

NEW YORK, Jun 30, 2011

Music producer, songwriter, recording artist and social media trailblazer Ryan Leslie shared the secrets to his grassroots success at a Draftfcb New York-sponsored Black Music Month celebration last night. Leslie, who was the producer and driving force behind “Cassie” who many consider the first internet pop star, told some 200 attendees how MySpace helped him attract a loyal consumer base that has blossomed via additional social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.



“I love the Internet because the metrics are very real,” said Leslie, who graduated from Harvard University at the young age of 19 and worked tirelessly to create content to promote his music. He silenced the naysayers who thought consumers would have no interest in wanting to know mundane details of his daily life. Instead, the connection created via social channels created a tremendously loyal bond with Leslie’s fans.



Draftfcb CEO and President Laurence Boschetto, who introduced Leslie at the event sponsored by the agency’s Black Employee Network, praised Leslie for monetizing social media. “I appreciate how deeply music resonates with consumers and how marketers can leverage those connections to sell their brands,” Boschetto said.



After leading an appreciative audience in a few verses of songs from the past, Boschetto pointed out how deep connections to music make lasting impressions. Musicians, added Boschetto, have long called consumers to action. Leslie, he said, is a strong voice today.



Leslie’s company NextSelection has helped brands including Lexis and Adidas build conversations with consumers.



Both executives urged attendees to find inspiration from those around them and to never give up the pursuit of their dreams. They encouraged the audience to fight for equality in their personal and professional lives, arguing that no one should be discriminated based on their race, religion, sexuality or gender.



“Tonight is really about diversity and inclusion,” said Boschetto. “We are trying to change things up a little. We are trying to create a unified whole because that should be the natural order of things. Perhaps music and social media are the platforms for our unified collective.”



The evening also included an inspired performance by two-time Emmy award winning artists Nuttin' But Stringz.



About Draftfcb

With its foundation based upon the equal principles of creativity and accountability, Draftfcb is the first global, fully integrated marketing communications agency to operate against a single P&L with one unified management team and no silos. The agency is driven by a singular focus on consumer behavior as expressed by its proprietary 6.5 Seconds That MatterSM operating system, which recognizes the brief period of time marketers have to capture consumers’ attention through creative executions that inspire them to act. The Draftfcb network spans 161 offices in 96 countries and employs more than 9,200 people.

10877: MultiCultClassics Moments For 2012.

Kickin’ It Old School. Advertising Age named mcgarrybowen as Agency of the Year, praising the shop’s old-school style. MultiCultClassics also acknowledged the agency’s outdated ways, especially in regards to diversity and nepotism. Ironically, as if to underscore the ultimate ineffectiveness of doing business via the Mad Men method, mcgarrybowen wound up winning and losing the Bud Light account within months—and rumors indicated the agency failed to deliver on digital tactics. Plus, the business went to Translation, a Black-owned shop with virtually zero AOR experience.

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Old News. When it comes to discrimination on Madison Avenue, Old White Guys is the new Black, as evidenced by an Advertising Age story titled, “Aging in Adland: The Gray-Hair Phobia That’s Hindering Older Execs.” A follow-up companion piece by TBWA Worldwide Director of Talent Nancee Martin offered “Six Tips for Older Job Hunters”—which arguably displayed blatant bias from a top executive charged with hiring people.

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Fresh BHM Stereotypes. MultiCultClassics celebrated Black History Month with fake Madison Avenue Ads and More Madison Avenue Ads from White advertising agencies.

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Boschetto Bullshitto. Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto proclaimed that by 2014 his agency “will be an organization that no longer uses the term ‘diversity and inclusion.’” The jury is still out regarding whether or not Draftfcb will be around in 2014, with strong predictions that Boschetto will definitely be history before the colorblind deadline arrives. Additionally, Draftfcb couldn’t even prevent the phrase from appearing in its own ADCOLOR® congratulatory ad.

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Omnicompliance…? The Biggest Under-Reported Story of the Year: New York City’s Office of the Comptroller asked Omnicom, IPG, WPP and Publicis Groupe to disclose the diversity of their workforces—and Omnicom refused to comply. Too busy engaging in Corporate Cultural Collusion and Corporate Multicultural Collusion?

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Suit Up. In April, IPG was hit with a $50 million racial discrimination lawsuit. Then another one emerged in August. A judge tossed the first suit, but the accuser re-filed charges later in the year. Of course, IPG insists the claims in the case “remain without merit.” On the flip side, IPG Chairman and CEO Michael Roth and Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto admit the industry has struggled with diversity and discrimination. On Madison Avenue, there will almost always be merit to any claim of unfair employment practices.

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Keeping It Real. AMC reality series The Pitch exposed some not-so-pretty realities about the advertising industry. When the show pitted Bozell (a White agency) against Muse Communications (a minority agency), Jo Muse sought to seize the opportunity and reveal the inequities that non-Whites face in the industry. Alas, Muse’s on-air performance led to charges of racism and ultimately inspired cultural cluelessness from the Bozell team. So what’s the lesson to be learned? Adpeople holding aspirations of appearing on TV series should confine their participation to programs like “The Price Is Right” or “The Biggest Loser.”

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To Sir, Without Love. Sir John Hegarty had the hypocritical audacity to pontificate on the importance of inclusive workplaces, seemingly ignorant to his own agency’s utter lack of commitment to diversity. The pompous douche bag is only interested in anything Black or White if it involves D&AD Pencils.

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The Great White Dope. After writing a couple of inane columns on race as depicted by AMC series Mad Men, Tanner Colby displayed his true ignorance through publishing and promoting his book—Some of My Best Friends Are Black. Colby somehow managed to later position himself as an authority on multicultural marketing, securing appearances at the annual Where Are All The Black People? and Multicultural Health National. In short, an idiot who admits to cultural cluelessness can still become an industry thought leader on diversity. Only in America.

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The Great White Hope. Tanner Colby’s stupidity contrasted the intellectual efforts of Dr. Christopher Boulton, Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Tampa, whose “Rebranding Diversity” presentation provided a blueprint for ending the exclusivity on Madison Avenue. But is it possible to disassemble the existing power structure via PowerPoint?

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From Whassup To WTF. As previously mentioned, Steve Stoute and his agency, Translation, made advertising history by winning AOR status for Bud Light. The shop has yet to produce a decent commercial for the brand; however, previous incumbent agency mcgarrybowen never managed to birth a competent spot either. Stoute did allow Anheuser-Busch InBev U.S. Marketing VP Paul Chibe to serve as an executive producer for the Jay-Z “Made in America” film documentary. A couple of photo-ops with Beyoncé should secure the business for the time being.

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An Adwoman’s Prerogative. Digiday published the “Confessions of a Female Ad Exec”—who later confessed to being Socialistic CEO Colleen Decourcy—to broadcast the struggles women face in advertising. Leo Burnett CCO Susan Credle admitted she never thought advertising was tough for a woman. Deutsch NY CEO Val DiFebo explained why she didn’t think of herself as a woman. And The 3% Conference piqued less than zero percent of MultiCultClassics’ interest.

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Mark LaNeve Still Sucks.

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Conservatively Speaking. Carl Warner elected to declare a dearth of political conservatives in the advertising industry. His argument, however, was countered by conservative commentary from Jim Ferguson, Vinny Minchillo and Jerry Della Femina. Plus, “lapsed” Republican Jeff Goodby produced a pro-Obama video that was so embarrassingly awful, it got pulled down faster than Mitt Romney’s dreams of becoming president.

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All U.S. and U.K. Admen Look Alike. The dearth of diversity in the U.S. advertising industry is not unique after all, as an identical dilemma is present in the U.K. too. The “solutions” appear to be similar as well, with agency honchos on two continents insisting minorities must be recruited and educated about the field at an early age. Plus, U.K. and U.S. trade publications seemingly shower the same White men with praise and accolades. Look for ADCOLOR® to launch in Britain as ADCOLOUR® soon.

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Livin’ La Vida Loca. For Latino advertising agencies, 2012 demonstrated the craziness of marketing to minorities. Following up on a promise to “blow up” the multicultural budget in 2011, Walmart officials appeared at the annual ANA Multicultural Marketing and Diversity Conference to provide a status report. Walmart Senior VP-Brand Marketing and Advertising Tony Rogers gushed, “One hundred percent of the growth [in sales] is going to come from multicultural customers. … Our spending against multicultural customers will grow by at least 100%.” Of course, no actual numbers were offered—after all, 100% more crumbs is still just a bunch of crumbs. Meanwhile, Quaker Oats announced it was unveiling the brand’s first integrated campaign targeting Latinos. It must be noted, however, that Latino agency Alma is likely playing a subservient role to White agency Energy BBDO, and both shops are in the Omnicom network. Also, given that Quaker Oats has been around for over 130 years, it’s pretty appalling that the first integrated campaign is just starting now. Heineken completed the trifecta by dismissing The Vidal Partnership and handing its Latino business to White agency Wieden + Kennedy. Heineken VP-marketing Colin Westcott-Pitt explained the move by saying, “There’s a shift in what consumers are interested in what they believe in and value in life. It trumps where they happen to be from or what their ethnic group is.” A few months earlier, Westcott-Pitt was gleefully discussing exclusively sponsoring a branded entertainment vehicle on the Discovery en Español channel. And does the man really think commercials starring pseudo-debonair White guys with exotic hotties in foreign lands will translate across cultures? ¡Ay, Caramba!

9854: Madison Avenue Manifesto…?

The New America series brought to you by Adweek, Draftfcb and the U.S. Census Bureau closed out February with a Black History Month perspective from Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto titled, “Dignified Intolerance: Creating a diverse and inclusive world is not something that should be debated but embraced.” Following a lengthy gushing over Black women in American history, Boschetto dropped the gauntlet:

I recently proclaimed at Draftfcb that by 2014 we will be an organization that no longer uses the term “diversity and inclusion.” We are working tirelessly, from the C-suite to the intern ranks, to foster an atmosphere of inclusion, where everyone is empowered to reach great heights.

As an industry, we all need to embrace diversity and make sure inclusion becomes our rallying cry. A new generation is already recognizing that the “new mass” rejects outdated stereotypes regarding color, gender and sexual orientation. They are cross-cultural and cross-behavioral. Our industry needs to follow suit. It’s not just the right thing to do; it will also boost our bottom line. Companies that don’t mirror the dramatic shifts in our population simply will not survive.

To my fellow CEOs and C-suite executives, change starts with us. We must work together to start a joint uprising that will not tolerate discrimination and exclusion. We must lead by example and mentor our future leaders, instilling in them the knowledge that they should pursue paths they might have thought closed to them. We must tirelessly practice what we preach and prove to the marketplace that we are current, relevant and represent the diverse constituents in the New America we are trying to influence.

That is my stake in the ground. Please add your stakes to mine. Let’s get this movement rolling. It would be an achievement that might just prove to matter most.

In some ways, it’s easy for Boschetto to make such a bold statement, as his agency—or at least his role as Draftfcb President and CEO—will probably be gone by 2014.

But seriously, is it sane for the man to claim his agency will achieve within two years what the industry has failed to accomplish in over 70 years—especially when his own company has demonstrated an absolute inability to simply stop producing offensive and culturally clueless advertising? Boschetto also hollered Draftfcb was “The Agency of the Future” a few years ago, and the world is still waiting for that label to be realized.

Give Boschetto credit for making perhaps the most revolutionary declaration on diversity by a White man in the industry. Too bad that few people will have read his words, as the perspective only appeared in a self-promotional section of a third-rate trade publication. The majority of Madison Avenue leaders can just admit they never got a copy of the memo-manifesto.

8765: Fuelling A Ship Of Fools.

Advertising Age reported Draftfcb London is buying 60-person digital agency Blue Barracuda. Perhaps Howard Draft will spin it off to realize his dream of running a small, interactive shop. Draftfcb CEO-president Laurence Boschetto gushed, “In the five years since DraftFCB was created, we have been focused on building our fully integrated model, which means one P&L, no silos. … Rather than infighting over budgets, our employees are able to put our clients and their brands at the center of all we do. Now we are committed to further enhancing our capabilities.” Wow, this guy is a delusional douche—and a fucking liar too. Draftfcb has more silos than the Atlas Missile System Project. Hope the folks at Blue Barracuda realize they’ll be “fuelling” a broken, sinking ship.

DraftFCB to Acquire London-Based Digital Shop

New Shop Will Be Called ‘Fuelled By Blue Barracuda’

By Kunur Patel

Interpublic agency DraftFCB will acquire London-based digital agency Blue Barracuda. The new entity will be called DraftFCB London “Fuelled By Blue Barracuda.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Blue Barracuda’s 60 employees will be immediately merged with Draft’s London office, increasing headcount 50% at the agency. Blue’s management team will also be integrated, with former CEO Martin Talks becoming Draft, London’s president of digital. The office will serve as the digital hub for Draft’s agency network in Europe.

Blue Barracuda, founded in 2002, handles digital strategy and media buying and planning for clients such as Pizza Hut, Getty Images and Roche Pharmaceuticals. Draft also gains access to Blue Barracuda’s offshore-production unit in Tallinn, Estonia.

“In the five years since DraftFCB was created, we have been focused on building our fully integrated model, which means one P&L, no silos. … Rather than infighting over budgets, our employees are able to put our clients and their brands at the center of all we do. Now we are committed to further enhancing our capabilities,” said Laurence Boschetto, worldwide CEO-president for DraftFCB.

While London in particular has been a recent hotbed for boutique creative shops, it has not seen as much mergers-and-acquisition activity as other markets. In recent years, the Big Four companies have snapped up agencies in emerging markets like China and Brazil. Meanwhile, London-based independents like Engine and LBi have set sights on growing stateside footprints with recent acquisitions in the U.S.

11089: Draftfcb In Waiting Mode.

Adweek reported Young & Rubicam refuses to release Carter Murray from his contract, delaying the executive’s official appearance as new Draftfcb global CEO. Why, it only seems like a year ago when Draftfcb accused Digitas of poaching talent. Oh, wait a minute. It was a year ago. At least the move gives Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto a few more months to execute his vision to erase “diversity and inclusion” from the company lexicon.

Young & Rubicam Refuses to Let Carter Murray Out of His Contract

New Draftfcb CEO must wait it out

By Andrew McMains

Four weeks after Carter Murray took the Draftfcb CEO job, he’s still walking the halls of Young & Rubicam, and it could be September before he joins his new agency.

Why? Because Y&R parent company WPP Group is holding him to the six-month notice period in his contract—at least for now, according to sources.

Historically, notice periods were designed to give an agency losing an executive time to find a successor. Also, a cooling-off period between jobs, in theory, keeps an outgoing exec from using client business information in his new post. In Murray’s case, however, Y&R has already filled his North American CEO role with insider Matt Anthony, and the bigger brands that Y&R and Draftfcb handle don’t compete head-to-head. In other words, there’s little Y&R client information that Murray can exploit at Draftfcb, a unit of Interpublic Group. Yet, there he sits as a lame duck at Y&R.

Whether Murray shifts to “garden leave,” or getting paid to not even show up, is beside the point. WPP is paying someone who has resigned and wants to leave. Other holding companies block such exits as well. Publicis Groupe made Tony Granger wait six months before he could exit Saatchi & Saatchi and join Y&R in 2009, even after Saatchi had filled his chief creative officer job with Gerry Graf. It could have been longer, though, given that Granger had a one-year notice period in his Saatchi contract.

Competitive wrangling aside, some say the practice seems like a waste of time and money.

“If the employee gives notice, the company has the option to cut them loose and stop paying them or to keep them from taking the new job but have to pay them,” said attorney Rick Kurnit, a partner at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz who represents both ad execs and agencies. “The question is, is it really in the shareholders’ interest to pay somebody just to obstruct them from moving on, or is that done out of pique?”

While he declined to talk specifically about Murray, Y&R global CEO David Sable framed the broader issue of notice periods in simple, legal terms: “People sign contracts. They have no right to sign a contract that they don’t intend to keep.”

The stakes are high in the latest episode of sabre rattling. Draftfcb, set back by major client erosion in the past two years (SC Johnson, MillerCoors, Kraft, etc.), spent six months looking for a new global leader and sees in Murray, a seasoned account handler, an opportunity to reverse the slide. For now, existing leaders like outgoing CEO Laurence Boschetto will run the 8,800-person shop. Murray, Draftfcb and WPP declined to comment, and IPG could not be reached.

Other industry leaders appreciate concerns about ex-employees exploiting marketer information, but nonetheless question the wisdom of paying money for nothing. “I’m not sure what the point is,” said TBWA worldwide CEO Tom Carroll. “You have to try to protect your clients. On the other hand, if that’s not the case, I think it’s a little overreaching” to keep someone who wants to leave.

Blocking an exit may also create ill will with the departing exec, making the person unlikely to ever return, added Mark O’Brien, North American president of DDB. And, in an industry that places a premium on talent, that’s a competitive disadvantage. As O’Brien put it, “It doesn’t pay in the long run to pay someone to do nothing for spite.”

7221: Confessions Of An Advertising Industry.

Wanted to make one more quick point regarding Laurence Boschetto’s perspective.

Boschetto opened with: “The intense, ongoing scrutiny our industry has undergone for insufficient diversity and inclusion has been well-documented — and warranted.”

Add Boschetto to the growing list of leaders — including Dan Wieden, Rick Boyko, Mike Hughes, John Seifert, Bob Liodice, Nancy Hill, Bob Scarpelli, etc. — who have essentially admitted that our industry has failed in its responsibilities toward diversity. Looks like Cyrus Mehri can put aside any potential lawsuit, as Madison Avenue honchos are offering full confessions.

Does any other profession allow such admissions to be consistently repeated without assigning penance? What makes things worse is Boschetto recently received a shiny new Mosaic Award to prove insufficient efforts will not only be tolerated — they’ll be rewarded.

9233: Up To 6.5 Seconds On Diversity.

The website of Draftfcb President-CEO Laurence Boschetto indicates that the executive is available for speaking engagements—and the talking topics include “Employees as Consumers—Embracing Diversity.” The associated links spotlight a fluff piece from The Wall Street Journal and a pseudo press release on Draftfcb’s involvement with TORCH. Conspicuously absent is Boschetto’s column at The Big Tent that inspired some colorful comments. Can’t help but believe any original thoughts Boschetto has about diversity could be covered in 6.5 seconds or less.

10312: Dumping Draftfcb Diversity Defender…?

George Parker at AdScam claims that Draftfcb CEO and President Laurence Boschetto is about to lose his job. MultiCultClassics had predicted the man would not be around long enough to realize his Draftfcb dream “that by 2014 we will be an organization that no longer uses the term ‘diversity and inclusion.’” If Parker’s rumor is true, who will continue the charge to create the Multicultural Mecca on Madison Avenue? Boschetto’s online bio includes, “In and out of the workplace he has become a passionate supporter of diversity initiatives designed to provide equality and acceptance for all.” The “passionate supporter” part likely means he’s delegating diversity to Chief Diversity Officers and token HR executives. Although he did win an Advocate Award presented by GLAAD at the 2011 ADCOLOR® Awards. Fortunately, IPG Chairman and CEO Michael Roth has made diversity and inclusion a personal priority—so rest assured the 2014 deadline will be met. Set your calendars now.

Hey, if the organization truly is committed to progress, Boschetto should be replaced with a minority executive.

10623: The Power Of WE On Madison Avenue.

The theme for Blog Action Day 2012: The Power of We.

The advertising industry has always been driven by The Power of WE.

On Madison Avenue, however, WE stands for White Exclusivity.

The Power of WE is an openly acknowledged reality. AMC series Mad Men has glamorized the phenomenon, making it downright sexy. AMC series The Pitch also exposed the monochromatic makeup of the field.

The Power of WE has been officially documented by lawyers and more lawyers, professors and more professors, politicians, more politicians and political commissions. It’s no secret.

The Power of WE is totally obvious to White leaders in the industry. Nearly everyone has publicly confessed there is a problem. Only two modern-day honchos have ever put a deadline on delivering diversity. Omnicom President and CEO John Wren ordered his agencies to come into compliance with the pledges made to New York City’s Commission on Human Rights by the end of 2008. If it happened, no one published a congratulatory announcement. Indeed, the 2009 hiring of Tiffany R. Warren as the holding company’s Chief Diversity Officer indicates there’s still work to do and smokescreens to puff. Meanwhile, Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto proclaimed that by 2014 his company would “be an organization that no longer uses the term ‘diversity and inclusion.’” Boschetto still has a couple of years to make it happen, but don’t plan on attending the victory party. After all, the man dubbed his crumbling shop “Agency of the Future” too.

The Power of WE is completely recognized by clients. Clients perpetuate the situation by allocating insufficient funds to multicultural marketing, failing to engage with multicultural advertising agencies or simply assigning White ad agencies to handle multicultural chores. In short, clients help to sustain the separate-but-unequal conditions. Additionally, they knowingly partner with predominately White ad agencies whose inability to embrace diversity sharply contrasts the client’s commitment to inclusion. Yet rather than demand change, clients display hypocrisy of the highest order and turn a colorblind eye.

The Power of WE is maintained via practices such as Corporate Cultural Collusion that permit White ad agencies to keep control of accounts and, well, everything else.

The Power of WE lets the ruling majority dodge responsibility by delegating diversity to resident minorities.

The Power of WE is propped up by lame excuses that lead to lame solutions which have historically not succeeded. The industry boasting creative minds and breakthrough ideas offers contrived clichés to address the issues including:

• Initiatives to reach inner-city kids

• High schools and camps

• More minority internships

• More special programs for underserved kids

• Strange scholarships

• Powerless Chief Diversity Officers and Diversity Committees

• Segregated award shows and events where folks like Dan Wieden and Tanner Colby are honored before folks like Sanford Moore, Harry Webber, Lowell Thompson and Hadji Williams

Of course, minimal thought is given to recruiting and retaining minorities beyond the age of 12—and zero suggestions involve educating White adpeople to raise their collective cultural competence.

The Power of WE will remain overpowering until the advertising industry starts abiding by the notions in a certain document that opens with, “We the People…”

7219: Boschetto Bashings.

Via The Big Tent, Draftfcb President-CEO Laurence Boschetto presented a perspective on minority vendors, likely reiterating points he made at The New Dynamics of Diversity event during Advertising Week. Hadji Williams, Harry Webber and Sanford Moore offered a few bashings rebuttals.

12350: Trumping Diversity In 2014.

2014 was not a good year for diversity in the advertising industry.

The reality is succinctly symbolized by the fact that former Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto once wrote, “I recently proclaimed at Draftfcb that by 2014 we will be an organization that no longer uses the term ‘diversity and inclusion.’” Well, as 2014 draws to a close, Boschetto is gone, Draftfcb is history and Diversity and Inclusion actually has its own tab on the reinvigorated organization’s website.

Additional symbols demonstrating the downfall of diversity include:

• The Madison Avenue Project being quietly dismantled

• The Marcus Graham Project Infographic exposing Black representation in the advertising industry is declining

• Here Are All The Black People getting segregated from Advertising Week

• Annie the Chicken Queen still ruling at Popeyes

In a year that marked the 59th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ refusal, diversity has taken a backseat on the Madison Avenue bus. Hell, 2014 showed that just about everything trumps diversity in the advertising industry.

Belting out the Popeyes song trumps diversity.

Adwomen nurturing millennials trumps diversity.

Selling (out) Honey Nut Cheerios trumps diversity.

Challenging people to Hire 3 Women to Disrupt White-Male Hegemony trumps diversity.

A Whites-only Burger King account review trumps diversity.

The dreaded Ad Tax trumps diversity.

A Whites-only Sprint account review trumps diversity.

Hawking royalty-free stock photos of MLK trumps diversity.

Patronizing tweets on MLK Day trumps diversity.

A Whites-only Arby’s account review trumps diversity.

JCPenney’s love for hip hop trumps diversity.

An amazingly stupid Gracie commercial trumps diversity.

Old news about White advertising agencies trumps diversity.

A gay graham cracker trumps diversity.

Rebranding a White advertising agency trumps diversity.

A shootout between sister White advertising agencies trumps diversity.

White adwomen whining over the dearth of dames trumps diversity.

Ryan Seacrest trumps diversity.

The dearth of sheroes trumps diversity.

Saluting Old White Guys trumps diversity.

Dove Real Bullshit trumps diversity.

A Whites-only Red Lobster account review trumps diversity.

A $3 million pay raise trumps diversity.

Ronald McDonald’s fresh gear trumps diversity.

Expressing cluelessness about diversity trumps diversity.

Spotlighting recruiters perpetuating exclusivity trumps diversity.

A Whites-only Miller Lite account review trumps diversity.

A $500 million termination fee trumps diversity.

The Publicis-Omnicom debacle trumps diversity.

Cultural cluelessness from a Pioneer of Diversity trumps diversity.

Unequaled cluelessness from Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy trumps diversity.

Recruiting White interns trumps diversity.

Feigning interest in diversity trumps diversity.

BBDO making diversity comical trumps diversity.

Searching for more alpha adwomen in the UK trumps diversity.

A boring trade groups merger trumps diversity.

A questionable $11.7 million salary trumps diversity.

Fawning over White millennials in adland trumps diversity.

A $7 million severance package trumps diversity.

Rebranding a Black advertising agency trumps diversity.

Hyping a Women-only awards show trumps diversity.

The dearth of White female judges at Cannes trumps diversity.

The drivel of Four Stooges on Cannes trumps diversity.

Obscenely bad advertising from Pornhub trumps diversity.

Complaining about Cannes trumps diversity.

Star-fucking at Cannes trumps diversity.

White holding companies hooking up with social media trumps diversity.

A Whites-only Infiniti account review trumps diversity.

A digitally dumb adman criticizing digital trumps diversity.

WPP Overlord Sir Martin Sorrell’s trendspotting trumps diversity.

The hypocrisy of cause marketing trumps diversity.

A Whites-only White Castle account review trumps diversity.

Gobbledygook from Cindy Gallop trumps diversity.

These 5 Dynamic Duos Are Nailing Digital Marketing trumps diversity.

Unilever’s digital dumbness trumps diversity.

Procter & Gamble consolidating crumbs trumps diversity.

Leo Burnett honoring Bill Sharp despite rarely hiring Blacks trumps diversity.

Shrinking The Big Tent trumps diversity.

Accelerating Toyota Swagger Wagon stereotypes trumps diversity.

Mickey D’s staging a shootout between White advertising agencies already on its roster trumps diversity.

A Whites-only L.A. Clippers account review trumps diversity.

The final season of Mad Men trumps diversity.

PR experts who fuck up their own PR trumps diversity.

Cancelling The Crazy Ones trumps diversity.

Letting unqualified digital agencies produce TV commercials trumps diversity.

Earning 780 times more than your average employee trumps diversity.

A creative director exhibiting transphobia trumps diversity.

Cross-cultural cluelessness trumps diversity.

Sobbing over extended payment terms trumps diversity.

Declaring “pee happens” trumps diversity.

Gender jive trumps diversity.

A White advertising agency dictating Black advertising trumps diversity.

A Whites-only Intel account review trumps diversity.

Cleaning up digital advertising trumps diversity.

A Whites-only Panera Bread account review trumps diversity.

Announcing that content outperforms advertising trumps diversity.

White adwomen winning awards trumps diversity.

Clients appointing Chief Creative Officers trumps diversity.

Dentsu showing zero interest in merging with White holding companies trumps diversity.

White advertising agencies concocting mentoring campaigns trumps diversity.

Partnerships involving culturally clueless enterprises—Google and Madison Avenue—trumps diversity.

Asking a Chief Diversity Officer what she really does all day trumps diversity.

Picking the next White man to succeed Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy trumps diversity.

Lobbying for adland trumps diversity.

WPP Overlord Sir Martin Sorrell playing pseudo thought leader trumps diversity.

The invisibility of minorities at Advertising Week 2014 trumps diversity.

Idolizing WPP Overlord Sir Martin Sorrell trumps diversity.

Deciding the perfect modern creative is female trumps diversity.

More Leo Burnett diversity propaganda trumps diversity.

Conservative clients promoting fearlessness trumps diversity.

Trumping Cheerios’ Gracie trumps diversity.

More White advertising agencies commandeering cross-cultural campaigns—and shooting on former slave plantations—trumps diversity.

Millennials myopia trumps diversity.

Old White Guys replacing Old White Guys trumps diversity.

Nepotism at Havas trumps diversity.

Subliminal Inequality trumps diversity.

Yet another White man advocating gender equality trumps diversity.

Yet another boring trade groups merger trumps diversity.

South Africa’s advertising industry having greater diversity than the U.S. advertising industry trumps diversity.

A Whites-only Johnnie Walker account review trumps diversity.

The high cost of talent turnover trumps diversity.

Not trusting digital advertising impressions trumps diversity.

Quarterly revenue trumps diversity.

Digital drunkenness trumps diversity.

Destroying digital trumps diversity.

Promising no layoffs in the wake of mergers trumps diversity.

Multiplying management layers trumps diversity.

Digital trumps diversity.

Hatching a single global idea for megabrands trumps diversity.

A White advertising agency’s telenovela trumps diversity.

Consolidating billings among White advertising agencies trumps diversity.

Copyrighting bad taglines trumps diversity.

Reviving Pizza Hut trumps diversity.

Consolidating digital billings trumps diversity.

Slapping employees in the (White) face trumps diversity.

Complaining about digital standards you co-authored trumps diversity.

Bratwurst trumps diversity.

Selecting a White advertising agency before replacing the CMO trumps diversity.

Choosing the Best Places for White people to work trumps diversity.

Another White man jumping on the gender equality bandwagon trumps diversity.

A Whites-only CarMax account review trumps diversity.

Telling your bosses how to do their jobs trumps diversity.

Comparing discriminatory hiring practices to spinach in your teeth trumps diversity.

Dreaming of a lily-White Christmas trumps diversity.

Quietly shifting accounts sans any reviews trumps diversity.

Misleading consumers via Twitter trumps diversity.

A Whites-only Sabra account review trumps diversity.

Admitting that White women comprise 49 percent of the UK advertising workforce trumps diversity.

Admitting that 56 percent of digital ads are never seen trumps diversity.

Parking the Cadillac account at a new White advertising agency trumps diversity.

Celebrating White A-Listers trumps diversity.

Additional consolidation of billings among White advertising agencies trumps diversity.

Sending a White guy to conquer China trumps diversity.

Suffering a consolidation headache trumps diversity.

A Whites-only Golden Corral account review trumps diversity.

Being a sore loser trumps diversity.

Being an Anus Horribilis trumps diversity.

Predicting What’s Not Happening in 2015 trumps diversity.

Naming a new CEO after consolidating billings among White advertising agencies trumps diversity.

Anointing yourself Global White AOR for Jesus trumps diversity.

Lowering Kara Walker and Pharrell Williams into the same league as David Droga and Ted Royer—which is like comparing Marie Curie and Albert Einstein to Harry Dunne and Lloyd Christmas—trumps diversity.

To sum up the year: digital—and all the acquisitions and asinine responses it inspires—trumps diversity; the alleged dearth of dames—and sycophantic White men advocating for gender equality—trumps diversity; Whites-only account reviews—featuring Corporate Cultural Collusion, cronyism, nepotism and other assorted isms—trumps diversity; White holding companies’ slick maneuverings—and the greedy egos of ignorant White holding company leaders—trumps diversity; White advertising agencies producing liberal-minded work—and having the audacity to feign commitment to diversity—trumps diversity; shady politics trumps diversity; and grudgingly hugging millennials trumps diversity. As previously stated, just about everything trumps diversity in the advertising industry. Let’s hope 2015 isn’t a rerun of 2014. Happy New Year!

13082: IPGobbledygook.

A MultiCultClassics visitor pointed to IPG’s self-promotional hype on its alleged diversity and inclusion achievements. Included is the recent Champions of Diversity Award for Exemplary Best Practices presented to the White holding company by the New York Urban League. Not included is the fact that IPG Senior Vice President, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Heide Gardner is on the New York Urban League Board of Directors. Also not included is any mention of Campbell Ewald, Champion of Cultural Cluelessness. Ditto any references to former Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto’s vow that “by 2014 [Draftfcb] will be an organization that no longer uses the term ‘diversity and inclusion.’” Hell, Boschetto wasn’t even listed among the ADCOLOR® Award winners, despite his first-ever Advocate Award recognition. Talk about not being very inclusive.

Worth noting are “the numbers” IPG presents as proof of its progress. Unfortunately, the numbers are not really numbers; rather, the information is stated in percentages. Does a 94% increase since 2005 of total minorities with “officials and managers” titles really mean anything without specific figures? For example, a 94% increase of, say, a dozen individuals would not be very impressive. Plus, how many of the “minorities” are actually White women?

IPG could become a pioneer in the category by publicizing EEO-1 data. But that would require integrity—as well as a spine versus spin.

Essay 4497

From AdAge.com…

--------------------------------

Why Diversity Remains Elusive

By Dale Buss

The Race for the Best and Brightest
The marketing industry and employee diversity ought to be a fantastic match. Advertising works the cutting edge of societal evolution, after all. And over the past generation, the expansion of ethnic populations has become one of the most powerful social and economic dynamics in America.

But this hasn’t been a groundbreaking relationship. Minority members accounted for 13.9% of total creative employment at the large agencies surveyed by the American Association of Advertising Agencies last year, up from 11.3% five years ago. Total minority employment at the agencies improved to only 20% from 18.2% in 2002.

“The industry doesn’t cast a wide enough net looking for talent,” says Ronald Owens, former VP-diversity inclusion at TMP Worldwide, a marketing-recruiting agency, and now an independent consultant.

Some marketing executives concede Mr. Owens is right. “As an industry, we’ve been more reactive rather than proactive about this,” says Bill McDonald, exec VP-brand strategy for Capital One.

Doctors, lawyers
At the same time, “Advertising hasn’t been at the forefront of [minorities’] minds as a career point,” says Peter Krivkovich, president-CEO of Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago. Moses Foster can explain that. “A huge part of our [African-American] population is the first generation to go to college,” says the president-CEO of West Cary Group, a new Richmond, Va.-based agency. “And if you tell your mom and dad, ‘I’m going into advertising to be a copywriter,’ they might rather you be a doctor or lawyer.”

How can the industry close the deal with minorities? The first thing is to realize that the benefits of doing so go far beyond meeting quotas -- and to understand that those advantages don’t stop with gleaning the insights a member of a given ethnic group might be able to provide about marketing to his or her family and friends.

“I want to work with other good designers who take their work seriously,” says Cheyney Robinson, an African-American who is a creative director at the Atlanta office of Avenue A/Razorfish. “It’s less about me being or specifically wanting to work with a person of color. Inherently, in making diversity important, agencies will have a better product.”

Other agency executives agree. “People from different backgrounds and cultures, speaking different languages, tend to have different creative talents,” says David Becker, president and co-founder of Philippe Becker Design in San Francisco.

Good resumes
Indeed, certain minorities may define one of today’s premium candidate pools. “The best résumés I’m seeing now are from foreigners; so during the last couple of years I’ve hired a lot of Indians, Pakistanis and other Asians who have come here for school and don’t want to go home,” says Beau Fraser, managing director of Gate Worldwide in New York.

The second priority is to work harder to bring in minorities and keep them. “It has to be a business imperative, and management needs to actively drive it,” says Laurence Boschetto, worldwide president-chief operating officer, DraftFCB, Chicago.

To improve its odds, DraftFCB emphasizes internal mentoring of ethnic staffers and external outreach to employees’ friends and at minority-dominated colleges. Partially as a result, Mr. Boschetto says, DraftFCB has women and minority members “at almost every level of management,” most of them homegrown.

Reaching out to minorities, Mr. McDonald says, is one big reason he makes a lot of speech and seminar appearances. That’s also why Mr. McDonald understood when Mr. Foster, the former interactive communications manager and head of Capital One’s creative shop, AT Capital One, decided it was time to leave.

Education
Mr. Foster founded West Cary Group in April and also has launched Remar (Reflections of the Marketplace), a program associated with Virginia Commonwealth University’s marketing department that is aimed at reaching minority high-school and college students.

“We want to demystify and take away the shroud,” Mr. Foster says, “show that this business is exciting and that you can make a good living at it.”

The 4A’s increased participation in its multicultural advertising-internship program to 150 collegians this year from about 100 last year and just 12 in the first year, 1973. And now the organization is pressing younger. “To be successful in identifying people of color, it needs to start before they get into college by making high-school students aware of advertising as a career,” says Angela Johnson Meadows, manager of the 4A’s diversity programs.

8174: Mad Ave Kidding Around With Diversity.

At Advertising Age, Draftfcb President-CEO Laurence Boschetto posted a lengthy press release on his agency’s partnership with TORCH (Together Our Resources Can Help), an organization offering career training and opportunities in creative fields to—you guessed it—minority youth. Boschetto gushed, “Each time we provide more open industry access to young, diverse talent, we all take a meaningful step toward creating a more diverse industry for the future.” Right. Meanwhile, the 4As named Julius L. Dunn, II as Industry Liaison to High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media (IAM). Dunn was previously running Adversity before being unceremoniously dumped by The One Club. In his new role, Dunn’s responsibilities include “developing and instituting curriculum for the academic and career competencies required of students to become competitive candidates in the advertising and media fields.” Okey-doke.

As always, these minority youth outreach programs are commendable. But why the hell doesn’t anyone ever announce a major initiative involving minorities of legal drinking age? Does diversity not apply to colored people with a high school diploma or college degree? Additionally, why do all of these educational efforts never consider schooling the existing White executives on diversity?

The industry that brags about its innovative and breakthrough thinking hatches the same idea for inclusive workplaces over and over again. When it comes to diversity, Madison Avenue continues to take baby steps—literally and figuratively. Grow up already.

11879: The $11.7 Million Man.

Adweek reported IPG CEO Michael Roth defended his $11.7 million compensation to shareholders, insisting the amount is equal to or less than what his peers earn. Additionally, Roth pointed to the company’s share price as an example of his effective leadership. The Adweek story didn’t indicate if Roth discussed the work created by IPG agencies. Heaven forbid the CEO of an advertising holding company might be accountable for the advertising produced within the network. Roth also didn’t take credit for making good on former Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto’s proclamation “that by 2014 [Draftfcb] will be an organization that no longer uses the term ‘diversity and inclusion.’” Granted, Roth technically accomplished the feat by dumping Boschetto and permitting the agency to change its name to FCB; that is, Draftfcb is an organization that no longer uses the term “diversity and inclusion” because it is no longer an organization at all. Why, it’s only a matter of time before Roth is crowned a Pioneer of Diversity.

IPG CEO Michael Roth Defends His Pay

Says it’s comparable or less than what competitors make

By Andrew McMains

Interpublic Group CEO Michael Roth today defended his compensation as mid-tier compared to his competitors.

Roth, speaking at IPG’s annual shareholder meeting in New York, received $11.7 million in salary, stock, stock options, incentives and benefits last year. A shareholder questioned if that was excessive, given that the company failed to reach its own operating margin target of at least 10 percent. IPG ended the year with a margin of 9.3 percent.

Roth replied that the margin goal was just one of several factors that determined his compensation. Others include the company’s share price, which rose more than 60 percent last year to close at $17.70 on Dec. 31.

What’s more, IPG’s board conducts a “competitive analysis of where our compensation fared versus our competitive set. And once again, we’re on the middle to below competitive compensation overall, including my compensation,” Roth said. “Most of my compensation—a significant part of it—is based on the performance of our shares and the performance of our financial vectors. And, as you can see, we continue to outperform our competitors in the marketplace.”

That said, Roth acknowledged missing the margin goal, saying, “We have some work to do in terms of expanding our margin.” This year’s target is 10.3 percent.

To Roth’s point on his own pay, he earned less than other holding company CEOs last year. For example, WPP Group’s Martin Sorrell and Omnicom Group’s John Wren received total compensation of about $50 million and $18 million, respectively. WPP and Omnicom are much bigger companies, however, with total revenue of $18.5 billion and $14.5 billion, respectively, last year, compared to IPG’s $7.1 billion.

The same IPG shareholder also questioned the compensation of board members, which last year ranged from $251,000 for Dawn Hudson to more than $296,000 for David Thomas, according to IPG’s proxy statement. Again, though, Roth, defended the pay level as within the range of competitors and not the highest in the group.

“We’re very comfortable with the level of compensation for our directors,” Roth said simply.

Not withstanding the questions about pay, IPG shareholders represented at the meeting reelected the company’s nine directors and overwhelmingly approved compensation, incentive and performance plans for its top executives.

For example, nearly 98 percent of the voting stockholders authorized the executive compensation plan, and almost 97 percent approved the executive performance plan. Shareholders also reappointed PricewaterhouseCoopers as the IPG’s accounting firm for another year.