BBDO Detroit Reviews

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

- Most generous PTO anywhere
- Great work/life balance
- Great benefits

Cons

- Senior Management had their favoritism which didn't often coincide with the most talented and hard working people.
- After the first massive lay-offs, Senior Management was never able to get employee morale up again.

Advice to Senior Management

Yeah, it is fun to have adulators, but you should look past that for promotions. A lot of talented and hard-working people go unnoticed.

Pros

working with the good people

Cons

agency had only one client

Advice to Senior Management

be truthful to the employees

Pros

Flexibility, fair compensation and opportunities.

Cons

The management stood by and watched Chrysler destroy the company. Every two years, Chrysler would come to BBDO and ask for a discount on the agency fee. This meant layoffs. BBDO went from over 2,000 employees in 2001 to 500 or less before they shut their doors in 2010.

Advice to Senior Management

Plan for the future.

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 people
the paid time off
the free starbucks
the flexibility

The talented employees (sans management) at BBDO Detroit made it a wonderful place to work.

Cons

no advancement
no communication
no acknowledgement
no new business
no synergy with any of the many, many BBDO Agencies throughout the world

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of Joe Garcia. The coward couldn't even release a proper send-off when the company shut down. The senior management made no effort to immerse themselves in the work for which they were responsible - instead, spent client-paid time on building their own life raft.

Pros

Benefits, people. Great place to work in most respects.

Cons

Issues with auto industry and clients.

Advice to Senior Management

More open in communications with employees.

Pros

Highly professional co-workers.
If you love the car business, this was the place to be.

Cons

Unpaid overtime.
Very little recognition for work well done.
Not existent severence pay as business prepares for shuttering.

Advice to Senior Management

Monday quarterbacking is pointless. The leadership was looking out for one another and not the best interests of the employees and the agency.