16498: Puzzling Poop From IPG And Its Affiliates.

 

Advertising Age published a lengthy report featuring more analysis on the IPG fire sale of Hill Holliday and Deutsch New York to Attivo Group. At least two excerpts warrant commentary.

 

Here’s Excerpt 1:

 

“IPG regularly reviews its portfolio to look for opportunities to simplify its structure and better orient the company to areas of growth,” a spokesman for IPG told Ad Age. “While DNY and Hill Holliday continue to deliver value and creativity for brands, their areas of expertise duplicated existing assets within the holding company.”

 

This point was pondered by another pundit. Can’t help but note it’s a pile of bullshit. Since the beginning, White holding companies have taken advantage of the sameness of White advertising agencies within networks, offering up replacement shops when clients expressed unhappiness.

 

For example, after USAA fired IPG shop Campbell Ewald for being racist, the client ultimately picked another White advertising agency within the IPG global outhouse. Don’t think for a nanosecond that IPG did not serve up droves of duplicate dumpsters.

 

Here’s Excerpt 2:

 

Both [Deutsch New York CEO Val] DiFebo and [Hill Holliday CEO Chris] Wallrapp said the Attivo acquisition will allow the shops to invest in new and growing capabilities. In particular, DiFebo said Deutsch NY will be looking to grow its graphic and design expertise. Wallrapp said Hill Holliday is looking to invest more in media and data and analytics.

 

Um, wasn’t access to greater resources a key benefit of being in a White holding company—so why are Deutsch NY and Hill Holliday eager to expand their capabilities? Plus, if these shops were deemed to have duplicate areas of expertise, won’t that pose a duplicate problem for Attivo Group?

 

Finally, there’s one area of interest where neither shop cares to invest: DE&I. Deutsch NY has already gone on record regarding the topic. Hill Holliday arguably made a failed investment. Both shops have demonstrated an abject lack of success with investing at all—so Attivo Group better think twice before providing any type of financial support.

 

Inside IPG’s sale of Deutsch New York and Hill Holliday—and what ad experts think of the move

 

IPG selling two of its legacy agencies to Attivo Group could spur other holding companies to follow suit

 

By Brian Bonilla and Lindsay Rittenhouse

 

The new year started with a surprise yesterday when Interpublic Group of Cos. announced it was selling two of its creative agencies, Deutsch New York and Hill Holliday, to Auckland, New Zealand-based global marketing services company Attivo Group.

 

Although the move is the latest in a slew of acquisitions and mergers within the ad industry over the past year, it’s still relatively rare for a holding company to sell two legacy agencies.

 

Most of the mergers and acquisitions to date have come from independents: Gut, L&C NYC, Majority, Movers+Shakers, and Uncommon all sold various stakes of their agencies last year. Brainlabs and Barkley accepted investments from private equity firms last year, and Stagwell sold its healthcare marketing agency ConcentricLife to Accenture.

 

What makes IPG’s move stand out further is that it’s unwinding two agencies it has held for more than two decades. Industry insiders believe that it could signal a bigger trend of holding companies selling underperforming assets—and that the buyers will increasingly come from outside of the traditional agency realm.

 

“To be competitive, [IPG has] to find efficiencies,” said Sasha Martens, industry recruiter and president at talent firm Sasha the Mensch. “It wouldn’t surprise me to see more companies sold off.”

 

“It speaks volumes that IPG valued the immediate payoff higher than they did the ongoing asset,” said Steve Boehler, founder of consultancy Mercer Island Group.

 

Given that the buyer came from an unexpected place—a global consultancy in New Zealand—another industry executive predicted more unconventional acquirers would follow. “It’s going to be an interesting year,” he said.

 

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

 

Why sell

 

In IPG’s latest earnings call in October, CEO Philippe Krakowsky alluded to several underperforming parts of its business, including its digital shops R/GA and Huge. IPG’s Integrated Advertising and Creativity-Led Solutions segment, which includes all its creative agencies, decreased by 4.1% organically in the third quarter.

 

“IPG regularly reviews its portfolio to look for opportunities to simplify its structure and better orient the company to areas of growth,” a spokesman for IPG told Ad Age. “While DNY and Hill Holliday continue to deliver value and creativity for brands, their areas of expertise duplicated existing assets within the holding company.”

 

The headwinds that have battered agencies in recent years—capricious clients, rising reviews, a rocky new-business environment, margin pressures and more—are forcing a divest-versus-build approach, said one industry executive. Holding companies “are neutral,” said a former Deutsch executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “They are there to count the money.”

 

“Holding companies went through such a spree, it’s likely we will see more divestment like this [referring to the Hill Holliday and DNY acquisition] or else consolidation as WPP and Dentsu have been doing,” said Greg Paull, principal of consultancy R3.

 

But Matt Ryan, CEO of consultancy Roth Ryan Hayes, said there is still untapped potential in creative agencies, which is why he isn’t surprised to see private equity firms show more interest in the advertising space.

 

“It’s kind of a fallacy that there are too many agencies out there that are losing money, and the reason is simple: If they were losing money, they’d have to close,” Ryan said. “The truth is more in that the agencies are getting smaller or they have flat to little growth so they’re not really appealing from a public company standpoint.”

 

Paull predicts that Havas could be the next shop to be spun off; in December, Bloomberg News reported that French billionaire Vincent Bolloré was weighing a breakup of his holding company Vivendi. (Havas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

 

“It’s not hard to create a potential list. Just take a look at the smaller agency brands that are still in existence at some holding companies,” said Boehler, who declined to name them.

 

Business losses

 

Deutsch NY hasn’t made the same strides as its LA counterpart since Deutsch was split into two entities in 2020. At one point, the New York office counted Anheuser-Busch InBev, Reebok and Microsoft among its clients.

 

Deutsch New York CEO Val DiFebo, who will remain in her position, admitted that the agency isn’t at its peak. In October the agency set plans to lay off an estimated 19% of its staff at the beginning of 2024.

 

“Losing our PNC business last year definitely set us back,” DiFebo said. “And it’s really unfortunate that that happened because at the same time we were winning lots of pieces of business. We probably won five or six pieces of business at the same time that PNC was migrating out the door.”

 

In 2023, Deutsch New York won business with Dr. Praeger’s, Simple Mills and Kenvue’s Band-Aid brand. Its other clients include Galderma, Lactaid and Betway. In June, PNC Bank selected Arnold Worldwide as its integrated marketing and creative agency of record.

 

“Once Deutsch lost PNC, which was 60% of their revenue, there was no business left,” the former Deutsch executive said, noting that smaller account wins couldn’t “keep the infrastructure in place” following that loss. The agency denied PNC accounted for that much revenue but declined to specify an exact figure.

 

“I would say we have a ton of momentum right now, but we’re not at our peak,” DiFebo said.

 

Hill Holliday CEO Chris Wallrapp, who will also remain in the role, also pushed back on the notion that the agencies were sold due to underperformance within IPG.

 

“The entire industry has been up and down, and the way that we approached even going into the pandemic, and last year we ended strong with two new client wins,” he said. “We’ve seen strong organic growth across the board on our current clients. And so I’m really happy with the steady growth that we’ve been able to provide the agency in our business.”

 

Both DiFebo and Wallrap said the Attivo acquisition will allow the shops to invest in new and growing capabilities. In particular, DiFebo said Deutsch NY will be looking to grow its graphic and design expertise. Wallrapp said Hill Holliday is looking to invest more in media and data and analytics.

 

From family to affiliates

 

The two agencies will maintain an affiliate status with IPG, which means they can utilize the holding company’s other agencies and resources. One major benefit of this is less pressure around working with conflicting clients.

 

“There have been times where we’ve wanted to pitch something and [IPG] was like, ‘Yeah, sorry, IPG has a healthcare brand in that space, or IPG has a beauty brand,’ but because we’re not part of the same network, we will now be able to pursue some of those things,” DiFebo said.

 

“It allows more flexibility, unique strategic approaches on how we can work with our clients and how we can attract new clients. “I do think there is a nimbleness to working with a privately held independent holding company,” Wallrapp added.

 

While flexibility could certainly be a benefit, the new structure could be confusing at first glance.

 

“This agency complexity should not be made to be the client’s problem. And this deal between IPG and Attivo Group is nothing if not complex and confusing,” said Jay Pattisall, VP and principal analyst at Forrester. “How can marketing executives be expected to keep all this straight? In a market where clients are asking for streamlined partner solutions, where nearly a third of new business reviews result in consolidation, I can’t quite put my finger on the logic.”

 

Deutsch vs. Deutsch

 

Another point of potential confusion could be Deutsch’s name, which now exists within both IPG and Attivo. (Deutsch LA will remain part of IPG; similarly, IPG is retaining Hill Holliday Health).

 

A memo sent out by Deutsch LA CEO Kim Getty yesterday to the agency’s staff referred to the New York office as “DNY” rather than Deutsch. “I’m coming to you with an update which you will see later this morning in the news, that DNY (formerly Deutsch New York) is being sold by IPG,” Getty wrote in her memo. “As you know, it has been over three years since Deutsch LA officially split from DNY, so this move as relates to DNY is a natural progression for IPG in that process. “Since we separated from NY, we’ve honed our own path forward and thrived at a time when other independent creative agencies have struggled to find their footing.”

 

Deutsch New York can continue using the Deutsch New York name until the end of the year, according to IPG.

 

“A lot of our clients hired an iconic agency called Deutsch, and so for us to just change our names today would be kind of crazy,” DiFebo said, noting that many clients already refer to it as DNY. “For right now, I think we’re just going to stay with what we have.”

 

Donny Deutsch, chairman emeritus of the agency his father David Deutsch founded in 1969, could not be reached for comment.

 

Next steps

 

Attivo founder Cam Murchison declined an interview, but DiFebo and Wallrapp said the company will likely make further investments in the U.S. DiFebo said Murchison’s ambition is to be a “stronghold” in the country. Yesterday’s acquisition marked Attivo’s first investment in the U.S.

 

“We are living through a hugely disruptive period of global change, and in change there is opportunity,” Murchison said in a statement. “We will move fast and quietly on that journey.”

 

For now the two agencies are focused on keeping their employees informed and transitioning to a new ownership. DiFebo said Deutsch New York will move from an office space it shared with The Martin Agency, MullenLowe and Cambell Ewald, to a new space that is leased by IPG. Hill Holiday’s New York office will also reside in the new space. (Hill Holiday is based in Boston.)

 

Industry observers said the sale to Attivo could benefit both agencies.

 

“The holding companies have put their emphasis on a handful of very large brands and in many cases have not adequately supported their mid-sized brands,” Boehler said. “Agencies like Hill Holiday and Deutsch NY will have a chance to better market themselves away from [IPG]. We’ll see if they can.”

 

Contributing: Aleda Stam

16494: Pruning Portfolios, Expelling Excrement.

 

MediaPost Mediapsssst columnist Richard Whitman opined on IPG selling White advertising agencies Hill Holliday and Deutsch New York to Attivo Group, pointing out how White holding companies routinely “prune their portfolios” of enterprises whose capabilities “are duplicated at other shops within the company.”

 

Um, doesn’t that notion apply to virtually every White advertising agency in every White holding company? As this blog regularly rants, holding companies fueled a commoditization of talent and services, whereby all people and places are indistinguishable, interchangeable, and replaceable—malleable muck to be manipulated, merged, and merchandised for any money-generating marketer.

 

This latest scheme broke up a bundled brand whose website boasts “operating independently since 2020.” Okay, but a sister shop just got sold off by the global human trafficker.

 

In Adland, prunes produce bullshit.

 

 

Why IPG Is Selling Hill Holliday and Deutsch NY

 

By Richard Whitman, Columnist

 

I was reminded earlier today after word that Interpublic announced the sale of Hill Holliday and Deutsch New York that all of the holding companies prune their portfolios from time to time to keep assets aligned with current growth strategies.

 

That’s essentially why IPG is selling. HH’s and DNY’s capabilities—good as they are—are duplicated at other shops within the company.

 

And it’s no secret that neither was leading the charge profit-wise at the holding company. CEO Philippe Krakowsky said as much during a Q3 2023 earnings call when he noted that “decreases among tech & telecom sector clients and a more cautious macroeconomic environment continued to weigh on our performance, notably at our digital specialists and most of our creatively led agencies.”

 

As to growth drivers, he added, “We had strong growth at our media offerings, followed by increases at our Sports and Entertainment, Experiential and Public Relations disciplines.”

 

What’s striking about the HH and Deutsch NY sales is that they are so well known. But they’re just the latest U.S.-focused agencies that IPG has sold in recent years.

 

In 2020 Dave Fitzgerald bought back the Atlanta-based agency he founded thirty-some years ago, Fitzgerald & Co. IPG owned it for two decades.

 

LA-based Dailey Agency bought itself back from IPG in 2017 as did Dallas-based TM that same year.

 

Both Fitz and Dailey are still going strong although sadly TM shut its doors a few years back after a number of client losses.

 

IPG still has a number of agencies that do business primarily in the U.S. including Deutsch LA, The Martin Agency, AF&G, Campbell Ewald, Carmichael Lynch and EP + Co.

 

Are they potential candidates for divestiture? My guess would be some but not all. I think it’s a safe bet the firm will be hanging on to its global networks, including FCB, MullenLowe and McCann.

16492: IPG $$$ WTF.

 

MediaPost reported IPG sold two White advertising agencies—Hill Holliday and Deutsch New York—to Attivo Group, a White marketing services group with offices across Australia and New Zealand.

 

The scenario underscores a lot of peculiarities with White holding companies and the industry overall. For example, Deutsch New York was sold, but Deutsch LA stays in the IPG outhouse. Who gets stuck with Donny?

 

Both shops in the sale retain their respective leadership and remain affiliates of IPG. Of course, much will change once redundancies are identified and sorted out.

 

Employees in all three enterprises can expect to experience more bouncing than a kangaroo—and more annoyance than the Qantas Koala.

 

IPG Sells Hill Holliday, Deutsch NY to New Zealand Marketing Group Attivo

 

By Steve McClellan

 

Interpublic has sold two of its longstanding iconic agency brands—Hill Holliday and Deutsch New York—to Aukland, New Zealand-based Attivo Group, the firm’s announced Wednesday. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deals mark Attivo's expansion into the U.S.

 

Both agencies will continue to operate with their current leadership, under their own brands, and each agency will maintain an affiliate relationship with Interpublic Group (IPG), “with ongoing access to many of the holding company’s resources,” the firms stated in a press release announcing the deal.

 

Going forward, the agencies will also draw on the “leadership, expanded resources and capabilities of Attivo,” per the announcement.

 

Launched in 2020, Attivo is headed by Cam Murchison and owns a number of communications and marketing agencies. With a longstanding relationship with IPG, Attivo most recently acquired IPG’s Australia’s 303 MullenLowe, and invested in Mediahub Australia in 2021.

 

Attivo also owns Harvey Cameron, Farrimond, Gorilla Studios, Rhubarb Lane and Rainmakers.

 

“We’re incredibly excited to have Hill Holliday and DNY join the Attivo family” stated Murchison. “Both are world-class agencies with amazing pedigrees that have made a tremendously positive impact on the communications landscape in the U.S.” said Attivo Group CEO Cam Murchison.

 

He added that both agencies “have many iconic brands with decades-long relationships as testament to their singular focus on client success. The outstanding leaders at both agencies have a strong desire to further grow their businesses and share Attivo’s entrepreneurial spirit and challenger mindset.”

 

Added IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky, “We’re excited for Cam and his team at Attivo to move Hill Holliday and DNY forward, with affiliate relationships to IPG. Attivo is a trusted partner with whom we have successfully managed affiliate relationships over the years in other world regions.”

 

Krakowsky noted that Deutsch LA, which has operated separately from Deutsch New York since 2020, is not part of the deal.

 

“Hill Holliday was founded by four bold-thinking, ground breaking entrepreneurs,” stated agency CEO Chris Wallrapp. “Today, we embody their spirit and mindset as the agency embarks on a new chapter in our 55-year legacy of building iconic brands.”

 

Wallrapp added, “Attivo’s investment in Hill Holliday’s future gives our agency and employees tools to innovate, unique flexibility in how we grow our business and strategic advantages for our clients. At a time of uncertainty for many well-known agency brands, this move is also a strong vote of confidence in the power and endurance of the Hill Holliday name.”

 

Deutsch New York CEO Val DiFebo added, “We are thrilled to be one of the pioneer agencies that will benefit from Attivo’s investment in our talent and our future... We see this as the best of both worlds as we become part of a new start-up, and still maintain our association with IPG, now as an affiliate.”

15282: Hill Holliday Is A Zealous Zig-Zagging Zoo—Zowie!

 

AgencySpy posted on Hill Holliday, where they went on a minority hiring spree by naming a new CCO, Head of Account Operations and SVP Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Of course they did. “Hill Holliday has a history of zigging when others zag,” gushed Hill Holliday Chairman and CEO Karen Kaplan. “We’re making big moves and investments now to ensure that we have the right talent and the right tools to emerge from 2020 even stronger than we went in, and that our work will be even more resonant, relevant and connected to culture.” Of course they will. Although boasting about zigging versus zagging is zany, as nearly every White advertising agency is zipping to acquire non-Whites, mostly to avoid getting zapped by client diversity demands. Plus, appointing a new SVP Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is zagging along with everyone else—and kinda odd considering Hill Holliday hired an SVP of Diversity and Talent Management in 2018 who only lasted seven months. Is it another paradoxical example of being unable to retain the minorities charged with revving up minority recruitment and retention? The zig-zagging zeitgeist is inducing zzz…

 

Hill Holliday Hires Arnold, DDB and Havas Vet as CCO

 

By Erik Oster

 

Hill Holliday has hired 25-year industry veteran Icaro Doria as its new chief creative.

 

Doria arrives at Hill Holliday after less than a year as global CCO for Havas Health & You.

 

“I’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the entire team at Havas Health and You,” Doria said in a statement. “The opportunity to join Hill Holliday and partner with [chairman, CEO] Karen Kaplan and her leadership team is an absolute honor. Hill Holliday has both an incredible creative legacy and a very bright future. I can’t wait to see what we’ll be able do together.”

 

Before joining Havas Health & You, Doria spent over two years as U.S. CCO for Arnold, during which time he also served on the Havas global creative council. Over the course of the past decade, he has also served as CCO for DDB New York and W+K São Paulo, where he was also a founding partner. Dorias has worked with clients including Coca-Cola, Diageo, Heineken, Hilton Hotels, Old Spice and Nike during his 25 years in advertising.

 

“Icaro is a flat-out superstar,” Hill Holliday president Chris Wallrapp said in a statement. “He’s got all the tools a modern CCO needs to succeed, and he brings an infectious energy to absolutely everything he does. As an agency, we’re all about embracing change, and Icaro is a game changer.”

 

In addition to Doria, Hill Holliday recently hired Aisha Losche from Publicis as svp, equity, diversity and inclusion and Marco Castro as head of account operations.

 

“Hill Holliday has a history of zigging when others zag,” Kaplan said in a statement. “We’re making big moves and investments now to ensure that we have the right talent and the right tools to emerge from 2020 even stronger than we went in, and that our work will be even more resonant, relevant and connected to culture.”

14624: Mentioning Mentors For The Marginalized. Meh.

Advertising Age published a perspective by Hill Holliday Chief Innovation Officer Mike Proulx, who revealed, “Why mentorships matter for the marginalized.” Um, haven’t initiatives like MAIP recognized such an obvious point for over 40 years? And technically, mentorships benefit everyone—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, creed, class, political affiliation and any other category. Indeed, White people have dominated the industry by tapping like-colored mentors. One doesn’t need a Chief Innovation Officer to uncover a commonly known fact. Or maybe the culturally clueless do need innovative—albeit basic—enlightenment.

Why mentorships matter for the marginalized

A study shows the benefits of not going it alone

By Mike Proulx

We all know the discouraging stats when it comes to underrepresented groups in corporate leadership roles. Only 5 percent of the S&P 500 CEOs are women. There are just three black CEOs at Fortune 500 companies, the lowest figure since 2002, and only three CEOs from the LGBTQ community as of last July, according to the January 2019 Fortune 500 list.

As a gay C-suite executive, I consider myself lucky to work in an environment that celebrates diversity and inclusion. But I didn’t get here alone. Having strong mentorship early in my professional development helped propel me and prepare me for leadership in a way I couldn’t have designed for myself. One mentor, the late Don Harley, who had worked at the University of New Hampshire while I was a woefully unconfident sophomore there, gave me sage perspective whenever I failed, and kept me humble when I achieved. His fundamental faith in my nascent abilities ignited a self-reliance that laid the foundation of my career. And while I’ll always be a work-in-progress, I’m a far better leader because of the mentors, like Don, I’ve had along the way.

I’ve always believed in the old adage that success happens when preparation meets opportunity, and mentorship plays a big role in that formula. I was curious whether any correlation existed between feeling successful as an underrepresented leader and being mentored, so I worked with our in-house research organization, Origin, to field a study of more than 2,600 working Americans. After segmenting the results into various underrepresented groups (women, people of color and LGBTQ), a clear pattern emerged.

Women with mentors are more likely to hold senior leadership positions: In the study, 25 percent of female respondents who have had a mentor hold C-suite or senior management roles, versus only 10 percent of women who have never had a mentor. More women who have had mentors find purpose in their work (71 percent versus 58 percent of women who have never had a mentor) and feel accepted at their jobs (75 percent versus 59 percent). Additionally, 70 percent of women who have had a mentor believe that they matter at work, versus 53 percent of women who have never had a mentor.

People of color with mentors tend to believe their talents are being used:

Sixty-five percent of people of color who responded to the survey and have had a mentor agree that all of their talents are being used at work, compared to 45 percent of those who have not been mentored. They are more likely to believe management is concerned about them, feel they receive recognition for a job well done, and say their wages are good. In fact, 20 percent of people of color surveyed who have had mentors reported earning a salary above six figures, compared to only 8 percent who have never had a mentor.

LGBTQ employees with mentors feel more successful overall: Seventy percent of LGBTQ employees who have had mentors feel successful at work versus just 47 percent of those who haven’t been mentored. More say they receive more promotions (74 percent versus 49 percent) and feel valued at work (67 percent versus 45 percent). In fact, 38 percent of mentored LGBTQ employees hold C-suite or senior management roles, versus just 17 percent of those who have never had a mentor.

No matter how the data gets cut, underrepresented employees benefited from having had mentors, which highlights the need for companies to invest in mentorship programs that embrace diversity and inclusion.

Make it authentic

Yet despite good intentions, in my experience corporate mentorship efforts tend to fail if they’re overly fabricated, rigid or mandatory. A serendipitous mentor-to-mentee relationship is arguably far more effective than a forced one. And that’s why companies aren’t the only ones on the hook for this.

Some of the most authentic mentoring relationships happen when they’re organically initiated, either by the mentor or the mentee. Potential mentors should use their past experiences to nurture instinctive mentee matches by reaching out to underrepresented high-potential employees. And with a little courage, simply asking a respected leader to mentor them is the best tool for mentee hand-raisers to find their perfect match.

If ever the scales of representation in corporate leadership roles are to get balanced, it has to start with underrepresented leaders-in-the-making believing in themselves. And that’s why mentorship is so important. As my mentor, Don, once told me decades ago, “People need to believe that they matter. The good leader makes people transcend the feeling that they are just a cog in the wheel or a brick in the wall—they matter as part of the team.”

14526: Hill Holliday Sends More Staffers On Permanent Holiday.

AgencySpy posted on the latest downsizing at Hill Holliday, and the blog didn’t even bother to correctly spell the White advertising agency’s name. Hill Holliday has been regularly dumping staffers over the past year, with the last round of layoffs strategically executed in October. The Boston-based shop brought in an SVP of Diversity and Talent Management last July—which might have been a wasted hire, as the place has been eliminating versus enlarging staff. Hey, maybe AgencySpy’s typos were symbolic of the reductions happening at the IPG-owned enterprise.

Hill Holiday Parts With 2 Percent of Staff in Boston and New York

By Erik Oster

A round of layoffs came to IPG’s Hill Holiday this week.

The staffing reduction comes the same week as news that Planet Fitness, which has worked with Hill Holiday since 2016, named Barkley as its new lead agency.

A spokesperson for the Boston-based agency confirmed the staffing reduction, stating that it impacted around two percent of staff in both its headquarters and the New York office.

The specific number of employees affected is unclear, as are their positions and departments and the specific reason for the move.

This news follows a “strategic restructuring” last October that saw the agency lay off 35 employees and eliminate the “project manager” title, according to a source close to the matter. Hill Holliday also went through a round of layoffs in Boston last April after longtime client Dunkin’ Donuts named BBDO as its new agency of record. It comes almost exactly a year after news that over 30 employees had departed the Boston office.

Hill Holiday and Trilia won creative and media duties for Frontier Communications last April. The agency also hired Scott Feyler as CFO and COO and Julianna Akuamoah as senior vice president of diversity and talent management last July and made a series of strategic leadership promotions in October.

In a recent “one word answers” interview with Campaign, chairman and CEO Karen Kaplan said the biggest opportunity for agencies today is purpose, and their biggest obstacle is fear.

14362: Strategery Rejiggering At Hill Holliday.

AgencySpy posted on Hill Holliday eliminating project management—and roughly 35 employees—from its organization. The White advertising agency defined the move as a strategic restructuring, which is actually just cold-hearted jargon for cutting costs to protect overpaid White executives. These sort of schemes also allow IPG to announce strong quarterly revenue reports while the overall industry goes to hell. The funny thing is, the industry-wide need for project managers has probably increased in recent years, as these workers assign resources, maintain production schedules and ensure efficiencies—they keep things on track, on time and on budget. You know, all the responsibilities that account people and creatives have been unqualified, unwilling and unable to handle. Not sure how this helps Hill Holliday CEO Karen Kaplan’s grand girlfriend goal to increase female representation in the creative department, as project management is often a creative function that’s popular with women.

Shortly after the AgencySpy posting, Adweek reported Hill Holliday announced three strategic leadership promotions. It’s always such a morale booster when people are eliminated and elevated simultaneously—and strategically to boot. Oddly enough, there was only one White woman in the trio, and she was named Head of Decision Science. Remember when Hill Holliday was a decent creative shop? Now it looks like decisions will be made via science versus emotion or gut instinct. No wonder Hill Holliday conceded Dunkin’ Donuts to BBDO. Selling coffee, donuts and Dunkin’ Munchkins probably wasn’t enough of a scientific challenge for the Boston-based strategizing gurus. Oh, and the promotions included a POC to the newly-created position of EVP, Director of Production. Not sure why Hill Holliday has never had a Director of Production in its history—or maybe the place has never had a POC in a leadership role.

“We’re investing in the right practice areas and positioning ourselves to serve a new generation of clients with very specific needs,” explained Hill Holliday President Chris Wallrapp. “They don’t just want data, they want insights that make an economic difference. They don’t just want more cost management, they want faster and better work. These changes reflect our commitment to delivering that every day.” Along with a daily delivery of bullshit.

13863: Hill Holliday Horse Hockey.

Advertising Age published diverted diversity directions from Hill Holliday CEO Karen Kaplan, who continued to cruise the White women’s bandwagon by coughing up three ways to hire more creative White women. Kaplan’s commentary actually underscores how White advertising agencies like Hill Holliday maintain exclusivity. For example, in reference to promoting White women, Kaplan admitted, “If you really lean into something and make it a focused effort, you can affect positive change.” Heaven forbid the woman should lean into true diversity, making it a focused effort and affecting positive change. “Listen to women already on the team,” serves as Kaplan’s first suggestion. This wouldn’t work with racial and ethnic minorities, as there aren’t enough of them already on the team—and those who are already on the team occupy roles like mailroom attendant, meaning they aren’t listened to unless something needs to be shipped via FedEx. “Create a place for ‘emotional’ safety,” reads the second bit of advice. In the advertising industry, racial and ethnic minorities who speak up are shut down and shat out. “Be aggressive with recruiting,” completes the trio of tips. The passive aggressive search for people of color typically starts at inner-city high schools, blocking generations of minorities from existing opportunities. “For years I’ve been asking people for insights into why this is an industry problem—why are creative departments the most stubborn to have gender balance and I can never get a good answer,” wondered Kaplan. Does the privileged woman ever bother asking for insights into why there’s a dearth of diversity in the field? She’d never get a good answer—unless she gazed into a mirror.

HILL HOLLIDAY’S KAREN KAPLAN: THREE WAYS TO HIRE MORE WOMEN IN YOUR CREATIVE DEPARTMENT

By Lindsay Stein

It’s a sad truth known throughout the industry: most creative departments are dominated by men. That fact inspired the 3% Conference, which next month will hold its sixth annual meeting to change the ratio for the comparatively small number of female creative directors in the U.S. Upon its founding, only 3 percent of U.S. creative directors were women, which is now up to 11 percent.

But some agencies have managed to beat that percentage, among them Hill Holliday, which has more than doubled the number of women on its creative team since 2014. The agency’s creative department is now 22 percent women creative directors, double the average, and of the agency’s entire 81-person creative team, nearly half are women.

“In 2014, we were 20 percent women in the creative department versus 50 percent-plus everywhere else in the agency, so we said ‘We have to address this,’” says Kaplan. “If you really lean into something and make it a focused effort, you can affect positive change.” We asked her for three ways other shops can accomplish that shift.

Listen to women already on the team

One thing the agency started doing in 2014—which it could and should have done sooner, Kaplan says—is invite input from creative women in order to hear their concerns and needs and allow them to ask questions.

“You have to make institutional change,” says Kaplan. “The default setting in the world is for right-handed people and the default setting in corporate America is male, so when we hire creative women, we have listening sessions and talked to them about benefits and what would be helpful to them.”

Some of the requests were for obvious things, like flexible family leave, but others included career development desires, which is why Hill Holliday allows staffers to move between departments. For example, a woman in digital strategy recently shifted to the creative department as a junior creative.

“You can’t accommodate everything everyone is asking for,” says Kaplan, “but listening is learning.”

Create a place for ‘emotional’ safety

Kaplan suggests creating an “environment of emotional safety” where people feel like they are able to speak up about things, even if they’re seemingly small. During one of the agency’s listening sessions, a woman said she felt that the senior male creatives on the team weren’t making eye contact with her and she didn’t like that they referred to the team as “the guys.” By creating this transparent, trusting atmosphere, staffers who jump to other companies have a stronger chance of “boomeranging” back to the shop, says Kaplan, which is why Hill Holliday maintains contact with former employees. It actually also creates a pipeline of potential hires that it finds at creative schools and personal networks.

“A pipeline is something you are always working on—it takes time to cultivate—it might not result in hires for months or even years, but you always have to be working on it,” says Kaplan.

Be aggressive with recruiting

When it comes to finding female talent, especially in creative, Kaplan says you have to be aggressive. Hill Holliday is sending 15 of its 602 staffers to the 3% Conference in a few weeks and the agency is planning on recruiting during the conference.

The shop has also hired a dedicated creative recruiter—a woman—who focuses solely on recruiting diverse talent.

The one question Kaplan says she still can’t answer is why the female numbers are still so low in agency creative departments. “For years I’ve been asking people for insights into why this is an industry problem—why are creative departments the most stubborn to have gender balance and I can never get a good answer,” she says.

And while all departments and industries should aspire to have gender balance, Kaplan says the creative department is really important because these are the people who have the most impact on the work. “You have to have diverse perspectives in the creative department,” she says. “If it’s bro culture, you’ll put work in the world that doesn’t represent women in a positive way. You have to make change and you don’t move what you don’t measure.”