BBDO Detroit Reviews in Detroit, MI Area

Pros

Fast-paced ad agency with a lot of energy. Good, creative people to work with. A lot of variety in the work.

Cons

Deadlines were sometimes unrrealistic and the workload could be overwhelming at times. It was hard to keep up with no extra help.

Pros

Intelligent, hard-working people. Loose reigns, but very few people exploited this.

Cons

Very little communication from head guy, J.G.

Advice to Senior Management

Too late. Fat lady has sung.

Pros

I truly enjoyed the people I worked with at BBDO. They offer a great benefits package, especially with paid time off. I always received good feeback from Management.

Cons

Unforunately I worked for BBDO as they were downsizing. The office has since closed. Due to shrinking budgets, the opportunity for growth and advancement was not there. My salary was very low, especially compared to other local agencies.

Advice to Senior Management

I don't think the problems at BBDO were the fault of Management. Our contract with Chrysler did not allow for the agency to seek additional clients. I think this was the reason for so many problems.

Pros

Complete autonomy, lovely work environment

Cons

No longer in business at this time

Advice to Senior Management

None

Pros

The staff is the greatest benefit of working there. A very diverse group of people with character, talent and determination makes BBDO a class operation. Of course, the CEO, ECD, CFO and other high ranking management figures don't fall into this group. There is little respect for this bunch.

Cons

Moral is very low.
With no clear direction being given by the people in charge, the staff often wonders what the future will be.
Several massive layoffs have cut deep into the minds of the employees as they have watched good coworkers dismissed.
Having a single client be the foundation of the agency was a fools plan. Now that client is in bankruptcy and there is a huge amount of money owed the agency. Not a good sign. New York could easily dictate that the Detroit office be closed and losses be cut by resigning the client.

Advice to Senior Management

You should have resigned years ago. It was obvious to all that you were in over your head.

Pros

Amazing amount of PTO time and decent benefits. Ever-shrinking staff increases the oppportunity to work on many different kinds of projects with minimal supervision. Management seems to be sincerely concerned about improving employee morale. Friendly, professional atmosphere.

Cons

President lacks needed leadership and communication skills and is generally disliked. Single (automotive) client makes for a lot of layoffs, high employee turnover and overall concern about job stability. Salaries are average and career growth isn't likely in the near future. Training is non-existant. Staff is distracted due to constant worries about the future of the agency.

Advice to Senior Management

Please change.

Pros

This is a large office in a world-class agency network. We serve enormous brands worldwide -- Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge. We have massive billings and generous benefits: paid time off is almost obscenely generous, and few can take all that's given. In better economic times, there was some good work here. The people, overall, are terrific to work with. After many rounds of job cuts, only the best are left.

Cons

We have one client: Chrysler LLC whose business/industry is circling the drain. Consider this: the Detroit office is almost wholly committed to an old agency model that is ill-suited to benefit from rapid changes in the marketing/advertising business, forcing us to stand by and watch revenue disappear to Omnicom partners who manage web media and take large bites from our most profitable opportunities.

Advice to Senior Management

I'm sure BBDO Senior Management are well aware of the problems. It's already too late to make many of the changes that could have averted the current pain. There's only one cure: a more diverse client base with agency services that extend beyond conventional media.

Pros

Did better work than any of the other agencies in town. The benefits package was pretty good. Lots of time off. Vacation, personal days and sick days were put into one bank and you could use them however you wanted. Hours were very long. Rarely are you required to work weekends. Pretty easy to keep a nine to five hours with an hour for lunch. You weren't loaded up too much with assignments. You were able to focus on the ones you had without much interruption. Management was pretty hands off. There was opportunity if you made it happen yourself.

Cons

Crappy management, poor compensation and crappy management. People were really underpaid or really overpaid and it had nothing to do with your performance. The only way most people got raises was if they went out and secured an offer from other agencies. Management let you do your own thing with your projects but that's about it. They didn't communicate effectively with you. It was really on a need to know basis. You felt like you were a freelancer. You did the work, turned it over and that was it. Management also didn't value opinions from the rank and file. They thought they had all the answers and were sure no one was better than them. Plus they were making so much money they didn't want to rock the boat. Moral was low, real low. People were not motivated. Management belittled people, rarely praised great performance. No chance of career advancement. There was management and then the work bees and they kept it that way. There was no way for you to take on more responsibility or learn more outside of your job duties. for a creative, it was a place where you came and tried to get some stuff for your book and left. or if you wanted to retire but better hope they don't let you go before that magical date. all in all, i would say it was the management that made me leave in the end. you just feel so under appreciated there.

Advice to Senior Management

Your days are numbered.

Pros

The people are amazing; very team orientated environment. If your willing to actually get your hands deep into projects; with zero micro-management. This is a place that will allow you to earn management/leadership skills along with providing all the knowledge needed to survive in the dog-eat-dog world of advertising.

Cons

No advancement opportunites really. In fact they've been in a hiring freeze as of lately.

Advice to Senior Management

Someway, some how, figure out a way to win new business. Talking about it is one thing; but actually going out and doing it is another.