Yesterday, Chevy ended to its 91-year relationship with its main advertising agency, Campbell-Ewald, shifting its work to the Dallas office of Publicis. This is another major blow to Detroit’s ad community, leaving Ford’s* as the only one of the Big Three using a local agency for its work.
The suckage of this news is vast. Hundreds of folks are going to be tossed from C-E, and the ripple effect in the supplier community -- edit houses, photographers, printers -- will likewise be dramatic.
There’s the expected chatter about who deserves the blame, but I wonder if Don Gould could have avoided this outcome. You know his work even if you aren’t familiar with his name -- he created the “Like A Rock,” among other Chevy campaigns, back in the day. Sadly, he passed away about ten years ago.
Besides being a brilliant creative, he was a gifted leader. Gould was so comfortable in his own skin, he put everyone in the room at ease (a damn handy skill in a panic-stricken business). He was passionate, engaged, enthusiastic. A great teacher and a gentle critic. Gravitas without being a Dick Cheney about it.
Many talented and capable people worked their collective asses off to keep this business in the Motor City. I don’t doubt Chevy stayed a lot longer because of it. Still, a part of me believes Don could have made a difference.
*Not a typo. If you’re from around here, you say Ford’s not Ford, as in, “That sulfuric stink hovering over Down River is from Henry Ford’s company.” While we’re at it, there’s no e in Detroit: D’troit. Citizens of Cairo, IL and Prescott, AZ can tell you such things matter very much.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment