R/GA

Sometimes when you lose your job you feel like the situation is not only out of your hands, but also like you were set up to fail. That's the case for whoever penned a site called ReallyGiantAssholes.com, which claims to detail the story of an R/GA employee's slow meandering departure from the agency. The best part: it starts nice and ends with a layoff disguised as a porn-related firing. We're not sure which side is up, so in the meantime just read. (R/GA was not immediately available for comment)

I was a writer at R/GA for three years. When I started I was doing some great work and I really liked the place. We were getting our account noticed and the client seemed cool with it all. Then, out-of-the-blue the client took the work in a very retail direction and took our part of the business to a more retail agency. I had a meeting with the head of the copy department and asked him if I should quit. He said no. So I became a floater.

Floaters at R/GA work wherever they're needed on whatever comes their way. A couple months of that and I landed on a pharma client. This wasn't really my forte so I found another job and quit. R/GA countered with the best account in the building. So I stayed. Then came regime change on my new account. My partner and I got the brush-off. Again I asked the copy department head if I should pack my bags. Again he said no. So I returned to floating.

While floating I was offered a column in the weekly company-wide, internal newsletter. The column was a collection of the wackiest, weirdest stuff I could find on the Internet. I would even get links from people at R/GA — the head of my department even sent me links — to some pretty crazy crap. I would then pick the best and least offensive content; throw in a dash of context and off it went. The column was called, "You See That Shit?" (Expletive deleted of course)

Click continued to read on. It's worth a minute or two of your time. The funny thing is that a few weeks back we told you about an digital agency that fired an employee for allegedly masturbating at his desk. Coincidence?

continued...

During a panel called Social Media, Social Change, R/GA EVP, CCO Nick Law explained the difference between today's marketing tactics and those borne of the 50+ years when the TV storyline ruled.

"You insinuate your way in by giving them things they want and need," he said, meaning that in order to get noticed by the demographic/psychographic you're aiming at, providing value comes second to stepping on the field.

Law and R/GA's campaign for ThatsNotCool.com utilized the power of social media and Google to earn $25 million for the cause. Law said the Google network did a lot of the heavy lifting, but having a relevant story helped.

He went on to explain that the reason this campaign worked as well as it did socially stemmed from the fact that it hit on four very important factors. It was interesting, legible, relevant and true — which made the video and accompanying campaign that much more palatable for consumers who watched/participated.

Asked what else makes social networking so effective, Law stated that they promote behavior, as opposed to being a pure message platform. In other words, social networking not only allowed for a call to action but it provided an easy means for people to participate, respond and help without coming off as too preachy. In this case, teens (who are obviously averse to taking the "don't tolerate abuse" lesson from parents) were given the tools to create their own change.

But the overarching theme of the day was just how great Google was in making all this happen. Rather than taking that at face value, consider this: if Google has the network capability to make R/GA look like kings for a campaign about text message abuse, imagine what they're doing for less altruistic clientele. The company can use campaigns like this, at Advertising Week, as case studies for why your agency should work with them. Between YouTube, search and the rest of Google's network, the possibilities are frighteningly endless.

More: "Toward a Bill of Rights for Advertising"

It's impossible to say exactly what's happening with Nike Women and R/GA, but word on the street is that the agency and shoemaker's relationship as it pertains to women is probably going to change.

The details are vague, but sources who know tell us that Nike Women is in a state of flux. Some portion of the business, which is just one part of R/GA's hold on Nike (they've been Digital AOR, US, since 2001 — a role that has expanded over seas), will be handed to AKQA, which according to one source nabbed the women's account. Keep in mind, after the Run business Women is apparently the second largest piece.

Another R/GA account that's not doing so well: Johnson & Johnson. No word on what's happening inside the agency, other than rumors of layoffs, which an R/GA representative declined to comment on.

We're hearing that 5-8 people were laid off last week and another few dozen more may be on the way out. Nike employs about 120-150 folks in New York, roughly 25 of whom were on the Women business. There are fewer than 80 in London and San Francisco combined, according to a source familiar with the business. This could also be more of the reshuffling, but conversations we've been a part of indicate the former. Let us know if we're missing something.

It's important to understand what Nike means to an ad agency. They're a whale that doesn't pay out, from what we're told. Because the brand is so recognizable, most any agency would salivate at the mere thought of working for them. Nike knows this, and the result is apparently lower billings. Nike recently announced it is reorganizing, which for R/GA means small billings get smaller. So even if the brand has moved some of its business, it may not have taken much money with it.

Conversely AKQA is in a good spot to take on big brand name work, though a company representative did not immediately respond.

More: "R/GA London picks up a new leader"

R/GA New York enjoys some much needed ice cream...and cake and cake? Image via R/GA's flickr.

More: "R/GA is closed today"

Due to the whole H1N1 thing. But, we hear folks will still be working cuz thangs gotta get done. Get. well. soon.

In other news, the infected person is joined by another confirmed infected person within the agency. Apparently, the two are besties — in other words they spent enough time together that their both being ill makes sense. The pair's entire team is getting checked out as well, so it sounds like things are being handled responsibly.

Wonder who the person was that tried to cover this whole thing up? Oy, some people...

We'll spare you the riveting e-mail; shop.is.closed (for today).

More: "Breaking: Confirmed H1N1 Case at R/GA Causes Pandemonium"

Sources inside R/GA tell us the agency has one confirmed case of H1N1. We won't identify the person in question, but we hear he/she is being treated.

But details about how the issue is being handled internally are coming out, and all signs point to irresponsibility by the infected person's managing director. We're told the dir. told the employee not to tell anyone, and to go home. Naturally, people found out, and now the 4th floor is (at this very moment) in a state of semi-chaos.

"PEOPLE ARE FLEEING," one source tells me. "The whole 4th floor is hysterical right now."

Another interesting tidbit just came to our attention regarding R/GA's sick policy. Writes a spy, "Here at R/GA if you stay home sick, you loose a vacation day so there isn't much incentive for people to stay away... sick or not." This note was preceded by a sentence indicating at least one other person who sits near the confirmed H1N1 case is also ill.

Update: The agency issued an e-mail, indicating that the H1N1 sufferer is "recuperating at home". Get well soon! And relax, everyone, it's the flu. E-mail posted after the jump.

Update 2: Folks on the 4th floor are no longer fleeing, and the crazed-ness has become limited to a few people. But you should know the person who's sick was listed as a judge of a cookie eating contest on Monday, which was open to everyone at the agency. We aren't sure if he/she was at work that day, though.

More: "R/GA: No Money, Mo Problems"

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Click play before reading on. R/GA CEO Bob Greenberg issued the kind of e-mail no one who's been doing a "good job" lately wants to receive. Yes, we're speaking of the, "So, you're not getting a raise, company. It's the economy's fault." Cue e-mail;

"Dear All: I am writing to confirm that given the current market conditions, R/GA will have to postpone our normal companywide July salary increases. We will continue to re-assess the situation as the business environment changes; and I will communicate further with all of you, at the earliest possible time. My best, Bob Robert M. Greenberg Chairman, CEO, Global Chief Creative Officer."

Yeah, we're a-holes for making light of this kind of thing. But you know, if R/GA wasn't so well known for promoting white kids who maybe weren't ready for that Sr. level spot, they'd have some flow for the folks who actually deserve the raise. Just sayin.

Update: Someone at R/GA has a confirmed case of swine flu.

Update 2: Apparently everyone on the infected person's floor is leaving the building. What's worse, we hear the person's manager told him/her not to mention the illness to anyone. Well, people found out and a source tells us, "PEOPLE ARE FLEEING...Yeah, apparently [that] floor is hysterical right now." We hope everyone is OK. Go home.

More: Remember that time they had their first layoff ever?

R/GA is going to lay off some 20 employees today, we've learned after receiving an internal memo. The cuts are set to happen around noon today, EST.

Details
The total number will represent less than 4% of the company's staff, which includes some 563 full time employees in the US. Another 17 are freelance and 38 others operate out of London.

"Due to the economic downturn affecting companies and industries worldwide, R/GA has decided to make a tough decision and reduce our headcount," said the agency in an e-mailed statement. "It was the financially responsible action to take at this time. Only the NY office will be impacted."

"[O]ur offices in London and San Francisco continue to recruit."

The agency has apparently made attempts to place cut employees in other IPG offices. We aren't sure if any placements were made, though. "The agency is doing all it can to see that affected employees in New York are considered for other open positions at IPG sibling agencies."

Mismanagement
A particularly interesting line in the memo stated, "[t]his is the only time that R/GA has had to take such steps." However, that statement is contrary to what we've been hearing about the agency. In February we told you that the shop has been using a subversive layoff strategy whereby they bring in an employee for a review and give them 2 weeks to improve their workflow, behavior, or whatever. Then 2 weeks later, that person gets cut and soon after his or her seat is refilled.

This one-by-one means of firing and hiring keeps things quiet. And if this statement from the memo is any indication, that's how R/GA wants to keep it. "Press Statement — Provide Only In case of Inquiry — Less Is More!"

Well, of course the aim is to keep this kind of thing on the down low.

More: "R/GA's Subversive Layoff Strategy"

Walmart has supposedly selected R/GA to handle its digital property, SaveMoneyLiveBetter.com. AdAge pegs the project as a $40M campaign and couldn't get anyone to confirm the win from the agency nor the brand. So, you know. This one is a rumor has it.

Meanwhile, The Martin Agency, the lead agency on the account, has had a definitive win for one of their clients, Geico. The shop has been paying internet starts to create videos in which the Geico lizard can be seen in the background. In one case, Gary Brolsma, creator of the "Numa Numa Dance", was paid $2,000 for his spot. Watch it above. In two days, the YouTube posting of the vid has clocked over 280,000 views. Nice.

More: Geico Caveman and Serta Sheep Are In The Hall Of Fame

You know the drill... Each year, Adweek assigns a grade to advertising agencies of note. It's kind of like Bloomberg's grading system for the New York Public Schools. This year, the magazine cut their list from 10 agencies to just 8. They arrived at their final mark by considering several factors: "global revenue percentage gain (taking into account the size of the shop), revenue/staff ratio and how well a shop did at accelerating revenue growth faster than staff expansion." The shops were also graded on their management practices, creativity, strategy and their use of social networks, mobile and smart use of technology tools. Here's the final report card:

AKQA: B+

TRIBAL DDB: B-

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