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MARCH 21, 2016 • 3ADVERTISING AGE
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NEED TO KNOWEDITOR’S NOTE
WHAT HE SAID
NATIONWIDE named Ogilvy &Mather its lead
creative agency. Theinsurance marketer
earlier this yearparted ways with
McKinney.
DDBCHICAGO
was named agencyof record for Fiat
ChryslerAutomobile’s Jeepand Alfa Romeo
brands in the U.S.
GOOGLE unveiled an
enterprise marketingplatform, the GoogleAnalytics 360 Suite,aimed at competingwith similar offerings
from Adobe andOracle.
STATE FARMSTARS IN
‘BLACK-ISH’State Farm weavedits company into theplot of an episode ofABC’s “Black-ish”last week. In the
episode, State Farmsteps in to sponsorthe basketball teamof Jack, the family’syoungest son, withthe team christened
the State Farm GoodNeighbors. Thecompany, which
declined to say howmuch it spent for theplacement, workedwith the Marketing
Arm on theintegration.
THE ELEPHANTIN THE
INDUSTRY
What you’re holding in your hands isAdvertising Age’s Talent Issue, featuringour impressive 40 Under 40 honorees.You’ll find the 40 Under 40 package on p. 9, where I hope you like the design and
layout as much as I do. We even had a beautifulcover drawn up.
Events, however, have a way of overtaking us:The cover is now dedicated to coverage of theongoing lawsuit against WPP and JWT.
More than a few people will probably grousethat Ad Age is focusing on the negative ratherthan celebrating or uplifting the industry, espe-cially as agency executives gather this week inMiami for the 4A’s Transformation conference.
The fact is the JWT lawsuit, whatever direc-tion it takes, is simply the public face of an ongo-ing issue that the ad world has been grapplingwith for years, one that affects the talent that isthe backbone of the industry. We’ve been hear-ing stories—on the record, on background andoff the record—that are as depressing as they areunsurprising.
And that might be the saddest testament inall of this. People seemed less shocked by thecontents of the lawsuit than by someone actuallyfiling one.
One has to wonder whether Erin Johnson’sactions will encourage others to speak up.
“This sort of thing is just something we livewith” seems to be a prevailing attitude in anindustry where women and minorities who wantto make it to the top have to put up with badbehavior or else be seen as some sort of trouble-maker.
Just remember this: You don’t have to livewith it.
—Ken Wheaton
HITS & MISSES
COORDOWNSaatchi New York’s
spot for Downsyndrome organizationstars Olivia Wilde as a
girl with the geneticcondition. It’s beautiful.
Just watch it.
TMIMITWWe didn’t always enjoybeer ads. But when wedid, they featured DosEquis’ Most InterestingMan in the World. He’ll
be missed.
‘BLACKFISH’The 2013 documentary
makes its mark asSeaWorld announcesend of orca breeding
program andperformances.
TVFirst Jeb Bush, now
Marco Rubio. Two of thebiggest spenders on TV
advertising are thebiggest losers in theRepublican primary.
QORVISPublicis-owned PR firmonce again takes heatfor helping client SaudiArabia “whitewash” itshuman-rights record.
FOX NEWSNetwork cancels
upcoming Republicandebate after Donald
Trump refuses toparticipate. (Not that
anyone’s reallycomplaining.)
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Sexism in advertising is real.Women discuss theirexperiences over the years
PAGE 6
JWT lawsuit shines harshspotlight on industry’s woefuldiversity record PAGE 4
WHAT TAMARA INGRAMWILL BRING TO JWT ASSHOP’S NEW CEO PAGE 4
Where have all the top creativesgone? How to stave off thesenior-level brain drain toSilicon Valley PAGE 20
Niyokei Whyte explains what it’slike to be “the token person inthe room” on Madison Avenue
PAGE 25
Landing a consumer packaged-goods post was once theultimate goal for marketers—nowit’s just the first step PAGE 26
The industry has been giving lipservice to diversity for decades.It’s time—way past time—fordefinitive action PAGE 32
MEET THE BRIGHT YOUNGMINDS WHO AREREINVENTING ANDRESHAPING MARKETING’SFUTURE PAGE 9
BRIEFINGS
“Bimbo.Dog.
Fat pig.”THINGS DONALD TRUMP HAS CALLED WOMEN,ACCORDING TO A HARD-HITTING SPOT FROM
OUR PRINCIPLES, A REPUBLICAN PAC
Your talent feels undervaluedand undercompensated—whatare you going to do about it?
PAGE 8
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It’s one of the most shocking allegations tohit adland in years. The lawsuit filed March10 against WPP’s J. Walter Thompson Co. andnow ex-chairman-CEO Gustavo Martinez bythe agency’s chief communications officer,Erin Johnson, claims that Mr. Martinez rou-tinely made racist and sexist remarks, andthat there are video and emails to prove it.
The heavily detailed lawsuit alleges thathuman resources had been notified and thatnumerous senior executives had either wit-nessed the remarks or had heard them fromMr. Martinez himself.
Perhaps the most discussed incident men-tioned in the suit deals with a meeting thattook place in Miami last may.
According to the suit: “On or about May18, 2015, Martinez addressed a group ofapproximately 60 employees for a globalmeeting to pilot a new agency method forgenerating ideas. The previous night, therehad been a large party at the hotel’s night clubattended by mostly African-American guests.At the start of his presentation, Martinezdescribed the hotel as ‘tricky.’ He explainedthat he ‘found … different and strange char-acters in the elevator.’ He further explained,‘I was thinking I was going to be raped at theelevator,’ but ‘not in a nice way.’”
The filing touched a raw nerve in theindustry, igniting heated discussion overwhether women and minorities have actu-ally advanced since the bleak days depicted
in the fictional series “Mad Men.”It’s not just what the lawsuit claims either.
The company’s response has been under amicroscope as well. The first response fromJWT and parent company WPP, the day thelawsuit hit, was a statement from Mr.Martinez, wherein he asserted his innocence,saying there was “absolutely no truth to theseoutlandish allegations and I am confident thatthis will be proven in court.”
That same day, WPP sent a memo to sen-ior executives noting that since Feb. 25, thecompany had been investigating and “foundnothing as yet” to substantiate the charges.The following day, JWT reiterated that it wasinvestigating. Then last week, WPP hired anoutside law firm to investigate the charges.
Exactly one week after the suit was filed,and two days after WPP said it hired exter-nal counsel to investigate the matter, Mr.Martinez “by mutual agreement” steppeddown “in the best interest” of JWT, accordingto a company statement. He was replacedby Tamara Ingram, an industry veteran whoin 2015 was named WPP’s chief client teamofficer, overseeing the holding company’s45 global account teams. The appointmentmakes her part of an elite group of womenrunning a major agency.
Clients steered as clear as possible, eitherdeclining to comment or saying that there hadbeen no changes on their accounts with JWT.
But there’s been plenty of talk on socialmedia. Some people have criticized what theyperceive as WPP’s eagerness to defend Mr.Martinez, and question why he was notplaced on leave when the lawsuit hit. Someapplauded WPP for dealing with the issueswiftly, while others branded the moves asslow and tone deaf. Others debated whethercultural differences (Mr. Martinez is a nativeof Argentina) could have accounted for somemisinterpretations.
But the most prevailing chatter wasreserved for an issue that has dogged theindustry for decades: Why isn’t the ad indus-try friendlier to women and people of color,particularly in senior roles, despite all itsintern programs, panels and outreach aboutthe importance of diversity?
The suit triggered an outpouring ofemails and comments from Ad Age readersrecounting personal instances of mistreat-ment or indifference from top-level market-ing execs. Several railed against what theycalled adland’s self-promotional—but intheir eyes, empty—conversations about itsmoves to diversify talent. Industry activists
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WPP AND JWT SCRAMBLE INWAKE OF HARASSMENT SUITBy Maureen Morrison — [email protected]
MEET THE WOMANTAKING CHARGE AT JWTBy Lindsay Stein — [email protected]
J. Walter Thompson Co.’s new worldwide CEO has animpressive track record and a wealth of experience leadingglobal teams. She is also a former Advertising Age Womanto Watch.
Tamara Ingram, most recently chief client team officer atWPP, took on the position to succeed Gustavo Martinez aweek after JWT Chief Communications Officer Erin Johnsonfiled a discrimination lawsuit in New York claiming, amongother things, that Mr. Martinez made multiple “racist and sex-ist slurs.” The agency said Mr. Martinez resigned “by mutualagreement.”
With the appointment, Ms. Ingram becomes one of therare women sitting atop a major ad agency. Since 2015, Ms.Ingram has overseen 45 global account teams at WPP, com-prising one-third of the holding company’s $20 billion in rev-enue and including more than 38,000 staffers working onthe accounts.
Ms. Ingram was not immediately available for an interviewand representatives from WPP referred requests for com-ment to its Finsbury agency, which has been aiding JWT withcrisis communications since the lawsuit.
But her team-building and client-handling skills are well-known. In 2007, Ms. Ingram was named president-CEO ofTeam P&G, a company she previously told Ad Age she was“passionately in love” with. As the leader of Team P&G, shewas responsible for $1 billion in business across 40 agen-cies. Ms. Ingram also concurrently served as exec VP-execmanaging director of Grey Global Group.
Last May, when she left Grey for her post at WPP, GreyGroup Chairman-CEO Jim Heekin wrote to staff in an inter-nal memo that under Ms. Ingram’s leadership “the past eightyears have been some of the most creative, productive anddynamic of our nearly 60-year partnership with P&G.
“We’ve pioneered new markets and new marketing chan-nels. We’ve launched Famously Effective ideas that have putour juggernaut brands front and center in the pop cultureconversation and driven their growth. We have broadenedour relationship, winning the Gillette business. And our workhas been hailed at Cannes and beyond as never before. Tamwill bring the same passion, skill and dynamism to herexpanded new role,” he said.
WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell previously told AdAge, “Tamara is a totally unique individual who embodies theright kind of modern entrepreneurial spirit. She is smart,tough and fair, and draws out the very best in people. Herenergy and passion are contagious; she gives everyone astrong sense of possibility.”
Ms. Ingram is effective and knowledgeable, according toan industry executive who has known her for five years, not-ing she has an excellent sense of humor.
“She’s smart as hell. That silent smart where she doesn’tsay more than needs to be said. She has great judgment andis quick at assessing situations,” this person added. “She’s avery confident woman, but not boastful in any way.”
Martinez
Ingram
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also renewed their calls to get more women into high-er-level positions, holding up the suit as evidence.
It remains to be seen how the case will shake out asit winds through the courts.
Toward the end of last week, lawyers for both sideswere battling over the admissibility of video of theMiami meeting. Ms. Johnson’s team had filed an amend-ed claim asking that it be admitted because it allegedlycontains proof of Mr. Martinez making some of theremarks in question. WPP asked that it be deniedbecause it was actually footage of “the development andtesting of a process that is highly confidential and pro-prietary to JWT.”
But for JWT, at least, it was a very long week as theagency aimed to get back on track.
Mr. Martinez was at the agency the day his departure
was announced. He gave a brief and what some peoplecalled gracious speech, thanking the agency for thetwo years he spent there, and then he introduced Ms.Ingram.
But even Ms. Ingram’s arrival was picked over onsocial media, with critics noting that her email to staffthanked Mr. Martinez, but said nothing about Ms.Johnson.
Regardless of how JWT employees feel about Mr.Martinez’s exit, the news of his departure was said tohave been a relief. People close to the matter said thatthe days in between the lawsuit’s filing and his departurewere stressful, and the energy in the office was palpabledespite being unusually quiet.
“People can move forward now,” said one personwith knowledge of the agency.
NEWS DIGEST U.S. advertisers are leaving money on thetable, underspending collectively by around16%, or $31 billion annually, because they failto spread their budgets across enoughmedia, according to an AdvertisingResearch Foundation study released at thegroup’s Re!Think 2016 conference.Advertisers are erring by shifting moneyamong media platforms rather than spendingmore to spread it more widely, the group hasconcluded, based on what ARF CEO GayleFuguitt called the most extensive industrystudy in more than a quarter century. The“How Advertising Works Today” project,launched last year, spanned 5,000 campaignsfor 1,000 brands in 41 countries and a totalof $375 billion in global ad spending.
Dos Equis is replacing the actor who playsthe Most Interesting Man in the World as thebeer brand makes major changes to what iswidely viewed as one of the best ad cam-paigns of the 21st century.Jonathan Goldsmith hasplayed the character sincethe campaign launched in2006. In the final ad, the77-year-old is shownheading for a one-waytrip to Mars. He delivers hisclassic line “Stay thirsty, myfriends” aboard a rocket ship asthe campaign’s familiar voiceover states that“his only regret is not knowing what regretfeels like.” But while Mr. Goldsmith might beheading into outer space, the campaign willremain. New ads slated for the fall will featureanother actor in the starring role, executivesfrom Dos Equis parent Heineken USA said.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the b-to-bbusiness of HP that split into a separatecompany last year, put its creative agencyaccount into review in January. BBDO, partof Omnicom, was the incumbent lead cre-ative agency and confirmed that it will not beparticipating in the review. According toexecutives with knowledge of the situation,BBDO determined it would be unable towork with HPE moving forward due to theagency’s belief that it would be in direct con-flict with AT&T’s enterprise business, whichBBDO handles.
Despite years and years of indications thataddressable TV advertising has arrived, mar-keters heading into this year’s upfront negotia-tions still don’t consider it a robust, regulartool for reaching consumers. To try to finallychange that, AT&T AdWorks is planningmore than 100 events around the country toprove that its targeting initiatives can and dowork. Its first upfront road show is designedto educate the marketplace about address-able TV advertising—the ability to target spe-cific audiences at a household level. AT&T willshare with agencies and marketers findingsfrom some of the hundreds of addressablecampaigns handled by DirecTV, which itbought last year. DirecTV has been in theaddressable marketplace for four years.
Goldsmith
For all the progresswomen have made inbusiness, sexual harass-ment is too often a factof life. We asked severalprominent women in thead business under thecover of anonymity abouttheir experiences. Here’swhat they had to say:
➔ “There was a timewhen I was passionateabout a piece of creativeand because of that, myboss asked me if I hadmy period,” said one adagency executive. “I actu-ally grabbed him andsaid, ‘No, that’s insulting.I’m emotional about thiscreative because I care,but I’ll let you know whenI have my period so youcan decide how passion-ate I really am.’”
She said that in lateryears another man askedher if she was goingthrough menopause.“When a guy walks intoa room and owns it andtakes control, he’s aleader. When a womandoes it, she still gets,‘Wow, she’s self-absorbed and aggres-sive. She must be goingthrough menopause.’”
➔ One mixed-raceagency executive recallshow while in her 20s, her
boss—the director ofaccount services at anagency—made a “terrible”joke about her parents.The boss said to her thather father, who is white,must have met her moth-er “at a sex show”because she was notwhite. “It’s horrible tothink that a senior personwould make a joke likethat to their employee,”she said.
➔ One executive, whohas worked as both anagency exec and a client,recalled that a companyshe once worked forarranged a meeting inMonte Carlo that includ-ed organized activities forspouses. The activities:shopping and going tosee Grace Kelly’s grave,neither of which appealedto her husband, the onlymale spouse on the trip.She added that genderbias is “a low hum that’salways there.”
➔ At an agency pre-party the night of theEffies less than 10 yearsago, a former DDBstaffer recounts, “It wasa great night. I waswearing an appropriatedress. It was a little low-cut, but not too shortand it had sleeves. A
global executive of DDBat the time came up tome and said, ‘Nice bonergarage.’”
➔ “One time I was very,very nervous was whenthe chairman-CEO of theparent company where Iwas working literallychased me around a cof-fee table,” said a mediaand marketing veteran. “Ikept moving away, andhe kept moving in. I waslike, ‘This was bad.’ I wasreally, really young, prob-ably 22. And I was work-ing in corporate PR,which is why I had expo-sure to him. I backed uptoward the door andopened the door to hisoffice. He definitely gotthe message that therewouldn’t be an opportu-nity. Then he fixed me upwith his son. I felt if I did-n’t go out with his son, Iwould be in trouble.”
➔ An agency CEOpoints out, “There’s asense of machismo, and
I’ve seen it from bothAmerican and foreignexecutives, so you can’twrite it off as a culturalthing. There really is aboys’ club at the top—that’s undeniable.”
Whether it’s inappro-priate comments aboutwomen and their bodiesor jokes made aboutmothers going to pick uptheir children, “it justbecomes part of whatyou deal with.”
➔ One senior agencyexecutive recalls a malecounterpart putting hishand on her knee in aprofessional setting, aswell as men making inap-propriate jokes tellingher to fetch coffee atboard meetings manyyears ago where shewas the only woman.The knee toucher wastold to stay away fromthe woman becausethere were too manyharassment lawsuitsagainst him. Still, hewasn’t fired.
WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BEA WOMAN IN ADLAND
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