Digitas Reviews in Boston, MA Area

Pros

There is a goodbalance between working hard and having fun with the company. The benefits are competitive, with plenty of flexibility to work from home and take time off when you need to.

Cons

They don't take care of the internal talent well enough. Some of the homegrown studs get paid less than mediocre counterparts who come into the company and have less experience with the business.

Advice to Senior Management

Take better care of your young talent (talking compensation here fellas!). That way you wouldn't have as much turnover at the lower levels, and wouldn't have to pay so much for mediocre middle managers who don't know anything about digital marketing.

Pros

The Digitas name and the clients. People are impressed when you tell them you worked there. But the clients are serviced in a very cookie-cutter way. Not a lot of real creativity once the business is won.

Cons

It's a factory. It's not creative, and very bureaucratic. Plus it's very political. It's not what you do, it's who you hang around with that's more important. It's almost like high school in that there are the "cool" people, and then there are the rest. And it's very important to socialize. A lot of emphasis is put on going to company functions, to the point where socializing is factored into your yearly review. That is very weird for creative people, who tend to be more indiviualistic and not company people.

Advice to Senior Management

Ease off on the frat house atmosphere and the partying. There are people there with talent, but because they don't party they aren't noticed.

Pros

Interesting work, interesting people, interesting industry

Cons

Insular, arrogant, lack of cross departmental understanding or coordination

Advice to Senior Management

More team building, cross functional goals, metrics

Pros

Highly trained staff that takes pride in their work. Compensation and culture. Employee advancement

Cons

High stress, high expectations. You are owned by Publicis

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to diversify your account. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Be accessable to staff.

Pros

Great place to learn about all facets of online marketing and different industries. Good for someone starting out their career... but let it be known this isn't considered "real consulting." Shared knowledge sessions are helpful, and training is provided when needed/requested usually. 4 days off during the summer are also a nice perk.

Cons

You're working for a client - so it's not uncommon to have late nights. The atmosphere is also pretty competitive - which can also be a good thing, depending on what type of environment you thrive in. I wouldn't call this a "nurturing" place - you have to make yourself be known and fight for it.

Advice to Senior Management

n/a

Pros

The people at digitas are the smartest in the industry. Employee training and development programs are outstanding. The benefits package are among the best in the boston advertising/marketing arena. Digitas considered shared learning a top priority. Each employee has a manager, who is required to meet with the employee each week for a one-on-one catch up session. Each one of my managers was outstanding in this capacity and helped me considerably. THe HR department really cares about employee well being - in fact, it is the best HR experience with a company I have ever had. When employees no longer used the in house cafe, they re-tooled the whole thing to bring us better, more healthy and fresher meals. Everybody gets FOUR free days off in the summer - WHO ELSE DOES THAT?? THe offices are beautiful. I was proud, very proud to tell people that I worked at Digitas.

Cons

the work load can be very heavy. Also they could do a better job at keeping people who are really good at their job, the workload burns out people at a high rate.

Advice to Senior Management

keep on doing great work and hiring and keeping good people

Pros

Great people, interesting work, and a laid-back and flexible atmosphere make this a great place to start a career. Coworkers encourage growth and development, and develop bonds that extend far beyond the office. Work is challenging but extremely rewarding, and the amount of client interaction is extraordinary - even at entry-level positions.

Cons

Compensation is reasonable, but sometimes not worth the long hours during hectic weeks. The training and on-boarding process for new employees seriously lacks structure, and much of the learning is done through questions and first-hand experience.

Advice to Senior Management

Have more contact with your teams, even if it means just keeping in touch with what they are working on and what you can do to help.

Pros

This is such an exciting industry to be in right now. Digitas is full of incredibly smart, creative, individuals. The tenure of these employees is very encouraging. People have been there for 5, 7, 10 years. Its a clear sign that this company takes care of their employees.

Cons

Hours seem to be long at times; I think some people are overworked, but possibly because they have not balanced their life/work appropriately.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your direct reports when they have feedback. Sometimes I think senior management loses sight of the ranks below.

Pros

Working at Digitas makes it easy to find another job. It is a tremendous training ground that grants people as much responsibility as they can ably handle. There is a great amount of respect from other firms for the people that work at Digitas because of the high(ish) standards and solid recruiting efforts.

Cons

There is an absolute void of charismatic leaders within Digitas' most senior ranks.

Advice to Senior Management

Spend more time recognizing accomplishment instead of just effort. Work on ways to ameliorate the levels of politics within the organization.

Pros

1. Fun, attractive co-workers
     -Regardless of which office you work in, Digitas is loaded with young, attractive co-workers. Drinks after work are not uncommon and strong friendships are made, as you work well into the night.
2. Develop a skill set other companies want
   -When the time comes to leave Digitas, you'll have no problem finding another job. Other employers love the Digitas pedigree and the network you establish will benefit you for years to come.
3. Interesting brands
    -GM and Amex are the two beasts in the Digitas world. Both accounts are very well established and you can strengthen your skill set as your slowly, ever so slowly climb up the ladder.

Cons

1. GDP promo process is for the birds
     -Regardless of what you do, or how hard you work, Big Daddy Glenn wants people to sit in a position for at least 2, often 3 years.
2. Hours are long
    -Client service is just that, you are there to serve the client. That often requires staying late to hit very hard deadlines and doing the work of more then one employee.
3. Tough to switch brands
    -There is so much to learn at Digitas you should try and touch as many accounts as possible. Each account is run differently, so if you can bounce around, you'll be more marketable when you leave.

Advice to Senior Management

The Digitas GDP process needs work, the system is flawed. Digitas has trained an army of smart people, but it is not uncommon for groups of people to leave after every GDP cycle. The brainpower that walks out the door, on a regular basis, is very sad indeed.