We Hear...

A little while back, we speculated that Rapp lost the Mercedes direct account though the agency assured us that the biz was being "scaled back a bit." Now, a tipster sent us this little nugget:

"Rapp is full of shit if they say they didnt lose mercedes, so far about 10 layoffs have come, we've had a company 'pep rally' where they have assured us that we're ok, and presented their 10th new 'vision' this year (that normally consists of some new bullshit titles for our inept senior management, new department names, and a series of horrible jokes by our president Jim Lyons). Then we go to a bar, where the company spends what would have been a month's salary for the poor AE they just let go."

Maybe they're still toasting to the Viagra win, but our effort to reach Rapp as well as the Mercedes marketing dept. has been futile. If anyone knows more, feel free to holler at agencyspy at mediabistro dot com.

More: "No Longer the Same Old Rapp"

Square Enix is the company that creates the Final Fantasy title — it's one of the longest running video game franchises out there and is known to have taken over the lives of thousands of gamers worldwide. We're hearing that Square Enix handed the Final Fantasy XIV work to Saatchi LA. So far, unconfirmed.

Reports indicate that the agency has already partied over the win — the game is slated for launch sometime in 2010 and depending on when that is you can expect the campaign will probably drop two to three months prior (that's a guess).

Representatives from Saatchi and Square Enix were not immediately available for comment.

More: "T.A.G Cranks Out The Video Game Ads"

While a tipster informed us last week that RAPP lost "one of their biggest accounts" in Mercedes-Benz direct mail, sources are kinda sorta refuting the claim. Instead, we're being told that Mercedez-Benz has been "scaled back a bit for the time being." What that means specifically we're not sure, but we've contacted the marketing folks at the automaker for their side of the story, which we'll surely reveal once we know more.

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When a man or woman leaves the agency life, it's usually for good reason. In this case, the secret lies with the creative we're talking about, who has quit his/her gig at a well known darling of an agency, for life in the production lane. Can you guess who it is?

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A tipster tells us that BBH, London has hitched Digitas on its saddle and entered the next round of the global UPS pitch. While BBH London has yet to confirm their agency's status, a spokesman from the brand's US AOR The Martin Agency said their firm's still involved in the review, which was called out at the end of April.

More: "Geico + Walmart; The Martin Agency + R/GA"

Which holding company is withholding at least one of its smaller California subsidiary's 2008 NON-discretionary bonuses despite said subsidiary having an extremely profitable 2008? We're hearing the bonuses are being withheld from both currently employed and recently terminated employees. The company apparently promised to "pay those bonuses at the usual time this year." is the HC is "managing its cash flow"?

Maybe it's due to the end of Q2 or maybe the industry was relatively overdue for some bad news; either way we've got a bunch of layoff rumors to share. Here goes (we hear):

— Campbell Ewald has layoffs today in Digital (not sure which office)

— Wongdoody cut 17 in Seattle yesterday

— Zeta Interactive may have let go of 10 people today

— Bernstein-Rein Kansas City is reportedly in the crapper

— Some 15-20 cut at DDB Los Angeles today, all departments; this is the 3rd round in 5 months.

— Wednesday, anywhere from 15-30 staffers may be cut from Deutsch LA

— 50-60 layoffs for McCann coming up (confirmed)

— Critical Mass let about 30 people go last week on Friday

— Detroit B2B shop Smith-Winchester is apparently straight-up closing

Just months after making a play for the $185 million U.S. account of luxury goods/fragrance purveyor LVMH and nabbing the $50+ million U.K. media/buying plan for the brand, MediaCom has now apparently lost it according to a source. Emails to the PR department weren't returned but the agency is reportedly filled with sad staffers today according to our tipster.

It hasn't exactly been a smooth six or seven months for Omnicom-owned global media agency PHD, specifically the staffers involved with Chrysler biz. Coincidence?

First, AdAge broke the news back in December that the agency cut 25 employees or 2.5% of its total workforce. Now, an anonymous source tells us that the entire PHD/Chrysler crew is being forced to take at least one week of unpaid leave between now and August 24th.

More info? e-mail kaditham78 at gmail dot com

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Our watchful tipsters tell us that MARC has laid off five employees in both its Pittsburgh and Chicago offices. Sources tell us that this is already the third round of layoffs this year for the agency, which has apparently been without a Pittsburgh ECD since January.

When calling MARC for a response, just a mention of the Agency Spy name resulted in a second of silence followed by a quick, yet polite brush off from the PR lady, who was "running late for a meeting." That will surely help squash the rumors.

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More: "We Hear McCann SF 50-60 Set for July"