ROOM AT THE TOP Advertising agencies are finding few talented candidates lining up outside the door of the executive suite as many of the best people are choosing to move into other fields Patrick Allossery Financial Post Oct. 15, 2001 If what has transpired in the ad sector over the last 10 years was ever dramatized in a horror film, it might appropriately be called Invasion of the Motivation Snatchers. As publicly traded agencies have grabbed control of more and more ad accounts, talented employees who were attracted to the industry by the lure of working in a creative profession have found that, increasingly, agencies exist not to create ads but to feed their holding company's share price. The impact this trend has had on the industry's senior-level talent pool is substantial: the pool is dwindling. "Many of the industry's best people are moving on to other fields," noted Terry Donnelly, executive vice-president of Mandrake Management Consultants, a Toronto recruitment firm. To this add the fact there is a shortage of executives in advertising today who have been through a recession, and it should come as no surprise that agencies are having a tough time finding qualified candidates to take on the role of president. DraftWorldwide Toronto's decision last week to tap a veteran marketing executive as its new president underscores the issue. Bruce Barr, most recently senior vice-president of residential services with Star Choice Communications and before that a senior marketer with Bell Canada, may turn out to be a brilliant hire. But if the ad sector were crawling with qualified top managers, the Toronto-based shop, a unit of New York's Interpublic Group, would have had no reason to risk going outside the industry. Mr. Barr, it should be noted, spent about two years as a partner in an agency in the early 1990s in between client-side work stints. He said he was attracted to DraftWorldwide because of its focus on moving product off store shelves, which is in keeping with his mindset as a client. "Their motivation is results, and I have a huge amount of respect for results," Mr. Barr said. Two weeks ago, Ammirati Puris made a similar client-side hire, naming Neil Everett, formerly senior vice-president of marketing with Shoppers Drug Mart, as its president. Likewise, Toronto's Envoy Communications Group last month appointed Tom Wright, a former marketer with Salomon North America, as its president and COO. He replaces founder Geoff Genovese, who moved up to chairman and CEO. It is still too early to tell whether Mr. Wright can make the client-side to agency-side transition successfully. Cossette Communication-Marketing took the leap and hired a client as president of Cossette Toronto last November, but the move turned out to be a disaster. Philip Donne, formerly president of Kellogg Canada, lasted a mere 10 months before he was out the door. Cossette Toronto is now one of three major Toronto agencies that still do not have a president. Wolf Group Canada, part of privately held Wolf Group Integrated Communications, of Toronto, has been in search mode since July, when Gerry Frascione left after two years to fill the top position at BBDO. TBWA Chiat/Day, a subsidiary of New York's Omnicom Group, has been looking since early last month. That's when David Fong, 18 months into the job, quit to pursue other business interests. Frank Palmer, chairman and CEO of Palmer Jarvis DDB, which two months ago appointed Tony Altilia, formerly president of Vickers & Benson Arnold Advertising, as its president, said he has never seen senior agency talent in such short supply. "The shortage is made worse by the economy," Mr. Palmer said. "Not many people in agencies today know tough times. They don't know what changes they will have to make to stay afloat or how fast to make them." Paul Kelly, president of Wolf Group Integrated, said: "There are always candidates. The challenge in every business is matching the candidates to the requirements of the position. I don't think there are a lot of people in all North America who have all the skill sets needed to run an agency." If there is an upside to the talent-pool down downswing, it may be that agencies will be forced to re-examine their image in the job market place and find new ways to make their industry more attractive to new recruits. An injection of new ideas and energy from the client side is also bound to have some positive ripple effects. But the sense that advertising is an industry in decline will only be reversed if agency presidents can put aside their own job fears long enough to perform the crucial task of acting the role of inspirational leader. The idea they absolutely must promote to their employees -- and to do so convincingly they must be in a position to live it -- is that a passion for creativity is the ultimate currency in the industry. < Return to Mandrake in the News