Campbell Ewald

Sources familiar with the matter tell AgencySpy that Campbell Ewald is among the agencies pitching the Gap business.

Since 2001, Gap's business has been in the hands of Laird & Partners. As Adage notes, this is the client's first time going outside that agency in 7 years.

A spy notes, Campbell-Ewald "desperately needs the business to survive — but has a snow ball's chance in hell of getting it."

More: "Accounts That Should Be Up For Review: The Gap"

Way back in July of last year we told you that Campbell Ewald was going through the review process with the US Navy, an account they seriously couldn't afford to lose. Sources reveal that the agency will retain the account after a battle with Saatchi New York.

At the time we told you that the Navy folk seemed pretty happy with CE, despite their internal shortcomings, but are obligated by the government to perform a review every 5 years.

Well apparently they were able to pull it together and retain the business. Today is the first good day the agency has seen in a long time, not counting the USAA win from ah, December.

More: "Why Campbell-Ewald is in Review with the United States Navy"

If you live in the Van Dyke area of Warren Michigan or are willing to move there to become an ACD (or if you want to be an ACD and already live there) get that resume ready. But don't get your hopes up — from what we hear, people have been interviewed but not called back. Yeah that kind of thing happens, but it seems to be the standard there these days.

We hear that the agency's Southfield shop is closing soon too. That is all there is to say.

More: This is much more interesting

It's a very quiet ad today, so it's nice to see that amongst the meager amount of news is a win. Campbell Ewald has taken home media and buying duties for USAA. While the shop has recently been laying-off staffers due to the turmoil with GM, it's nice to see that perhaps with this win, there won't be more bodies on the unemployment line.

Of course, when there's a winner, there's a loser. Deutsch has held the account for the last year, but a new CMO has recently come to the USAA and you know what that (genearlly) means for the AOR. Lay-offs from Deutsch have been recorded at lower numbers than the majority of agencies. Hopefully, the USAA account won't change that.

More: Donny Deutsch Wins One for the Gipper

Update: We're told the final number of lay offs totaled some 100 people.

While following the Campbell Ewald's layoffs, which are said to affect anywhere from 50 to 200 employees before its over, we've been increasingly surprised by the techniques being employed by management to get through this sensitive time. And by surprised, we mean flabbergasted.

It's a rare thing, to be flabbergasted, and that feeling cannot begin to hint at how CE employees, current or otherwise, must be feeling in light of all that's happened. CEers say they have been humiliated in ways that cannot be invented.

You may recall that after being laid off, CE employees were told they could return the following Friday (now last Friday) to collect their things. In the mean time, we're told their managers took a class on how to collect recently laid off employees' belonging.

Why? Because after being told their job no longer exists, CEers were escorted from the building. As in, immediately after. No goodbyes, no stuff getting, no phone number exchanging.

They did however, receive a notification of when they could return to collect their things, along with a procedure for doing so. We're told it went as follows.

— Former employees were to go to the Campbell-Ewald HR building during a 20-minute time slot. If they arrived before or after, their boxes would not be available.
— Pull up to a designated point with their paperwork.
— An HR representative was to get the paperwork.
— The former employee was to pop their trunk.
— Another HR representative brought out their boxes.
— The former employee was to drive away.

Way to stay classy, management. But look, we understand it's hard to "manage" returning desk stuff to 50-200 people. It's just that the only logical explanation for the procedural method CE used is that there was some calculated risk to just letting people come back and get their things.

Had this gone the right way, and folks were allowed to return and get their things (or just take them when they were let go), things might have been messy. But a bunch of people just lost their jobs, it should be messy. Put down "The Idiot's Guide to Ruining People's Lives in the Most Convenient Way Possible" and take a lesson in humanity. This process is going to hurt. So let it be what it is, and stop pretending that there's any chance of saving face. You're just going to make it worse. Wait, you've already made it as bad as possible. Is there a Cannes Lion for that?

More: "The Morning After: CE Layoffs Said to Continue"

Following up on yesterday's news that Campbell Ewald is in the process of laying off more employees, we're now being told that the cuts were so numerous that there wasn't enough time for proper exit meetings.

"An HR person and a member of security went to the employee's desk, told them they were laid off, and immediately escorted them out of the building," said a source.

Apparently, employees have been asked to come back Friday to collect their things. We're also told that supervisors are being held responsible for collecting their laid-off employees' items and boxing them up, et cetera. Presumably, this will speed up the process on Friday, when employees return for their wares.

Sources indicate the majority of cuts are coming from the Chevrolet retail group.

More: "Campbell Ewald Detroit in a World of Hurt"

In an e-mail to staff today, Campbell Ewald's Tony Hopp informed staff that agency veterans Tim Keaton and Bob Mitchell are retiring at the end of the year.

In late November, we reported that Keaton "was let go...along with a number of support staff." We're told today that Keaton was brought back on, only to retire shortly thereafter. Of the two, who in total have worked at Campbell Ewald for half a century, Hopp said, "I personally want to thank Bob and Tim for their dedication and contributions to Campbell-Ewald and our clients during their many years with the agency. Please join me in extending our heartfelt best wishes."

Click continued for more.

More: "Campbell Ewald Detroit in a World of Hurt"

continued...

More bad news from the Campbell Ewald world as we learned today that another round of large layoffs are happening today. Reports indicate that so far 50 staffers have been laid off since yesterday.

We're hearing that the IT and creative departments have lost folks, but we can expect this to be across the board.

A source noted that the agency's holiday party has also been canceled. There's no word so far on how many people will be heading home early today.

More: "Campbell Ewald Drops 20 Year Veteran Tim Keaton"

Tim Keaton has spent the last twenty years at Campbell Ewald. AgencySpy has learned that he was let go today, along with a number of support staff.

About a month ago, Keaton was moved from an EVP account role to an EVP director of business planning position. But for the majority of his two-decade stay, he worked primarily on Chevrolet. A source close to the agency said he was moved to the Kaiser Permanente account before finally landing on XM/OnStar. In September, CE lost the XM account to McCann.

Campbell Ewald did not respond to our e-mail by the time this story was published.

More: "GM/OnStar to Campbell Ewald; XM in Review (Our Spy Says They Already Lost)"

Update: AgencySpy has learned that anywhere from 150 to 200 more employees are slated to be laid off today and over the next week. Again, a representative from Campbell Ewald declined to comment.

Hidden in the comments of a story about BBDO Detroit's 145 layoffs from earlier this week, there are hints at layoffs of smaller proportions at Campbell Ewald in Warren, Mich. We hear 30 were let go this time around.

We contacted the agency for further information, but a representative declined to comment. In mid-August, we reported that due to issues within the Alltel account, CE was slated to cut employees. Consider also the lost XM business, which went to McCann, that Ken Burbary jumped ship, et al.

So what's the deal, CEers? Have your comrades fallen, or is this just another case of rumors that weren't? We hope for the latter.

More: "Campbell Ewald May Have Lost Alltel, Pink Slips Going out Today"