Merkley + Partners Reviews

Pros

Nice, friendly people
Decent accounts
Great Soho downtown vibe
Happy hours every month
Cool office
Nobody micromanages you

Cons

Lack of innovation
Old school management
Creative doesn't push the envelope because creativity is stifeld
Same couple of people pitch all new business and they don't have a winning track record
A few strong account teams, others are scatter brained and slow moving
Never get raises or reviews

Advice to Senior Management

Please expand your new business team to inject some fresh ideas.

Pros

Everyone I've worked with has been professional, approachable, and friendly. The group that I work with most is on the ball - communicating with one another well in advance of deadlines, and running things smoothly and efficiently. I like the recently revamped website!

Cons

Would like to see reviews happen more frequently.

Advice to Senior Management

You're on the right path with more agency-wide meetings.

Pros

People are really nice here. Nice roof to hangout (which is rarely open in summer). Lot of new enthusiastic employees.

Cons

Nothing in particular about my department, but overall company is isolated within different groups. There is never any formal introduction of new employees when they join the team.

Advice to Senior Management

Leadership is lacking as whole. However, I think lower level managers are much more competent than some that are higher up.

Pros

employees were great but need a better system for them to grow.

Cons

wish management would step aside once in a while and let their staff have a little more voice instead of treating them like a pair of hands.

Advice to Senior Management

learn some of your employees names who work for you the company is too small to feel indefferent.

Pros

Good People
Laid Back
New Kid Running Digital Group Which Was Badly Needed. He's Making Changes And Shaking Things Up, But A Long Road Ahead.

Cons

Long Way to Get Back on Track

Advice to Senior Management

Get out of the Way

Pros

People are nice. People are too conservative.

Cons

Old school. They will get absorbed into another omnicom shop like BBDO. Digital department is not qualified

Advice to Senior Management

Embrace the new age of advertising

Pros

Nice roof deck
Free coffee
Extremely quiet, so you can focus
Zero fun, so you won't get distracted

Cons

One of the worst recent track records in new biz
Odd favoritism - clearly incompetent senior people are put in charge of big deal projects
Apathy is rampant
Some of the lowest morale out there
Severe lack of major talent
Complete oligarchy - every single decision is made by the same 4 people (or less) on everything

Advice to Senior Management

Start looking for talent and stop being complacent. Realize there are major problems within the infrastructure, and don't rely on what you've always used.

Pros

great people working at your side Creative Educated Inspiring

Cons

Management disorganized with an inner circle mentality
Can not bring in a new substantial client for years
Pitch new clients with a shovel instead of a few good ideas and a confident and trustworthy handshake

Advice to Senior Management

Sign and keep a client - Get a Parry Jane or Steve type at your next pitch

Pros

Merkley + Partners is a small, full-service agency with a good roster of clients, with the largest by far being Mercedes-Benz. The office itself is located in the SoHo/West Village area, which is great. The space itself is also very beautiful with great views of the city.

Everyone who works at M+P is very intelligent and fun to be around for the most part. The media department and the account service department were staffed with young, fun people. Working there you do get to meet a lot of people in other departments. Most people are very friendly.

M+P strives to create a nice work environment. As other reviewers have mentioned, they celebrate most holidays with small parties on the roof or in the lobby. It is a casual, relaxed atmosphere.

Cons

There is fairly low turnover at this agency. While this shows that it is a good place to work, it also makes it extremely difficult to advance. Some of the people I knew there had not gotten a raise in more than two years either, so I don't think that can totally be blamed on the recession.

The media department also has some serious management and leadership issues. About two years ago, the media director left and was never replaced. Instead three AMDs were put in charge of the department. This created serious problems because these three people would all like to be the media director themselves, but instead have to try to lead the department together. This arrangement does not work at all and was disastrous to morale overall.

Another downside is that it is easy to get burned out. Since there are so few clients, it is pretty impossible to switch accounts. Also as another reviewer mentioned, if the agency lost the Mercedes client it would certainly go bankrupt. I also agree with the reviewer who said the agency loses lots of money on certain clients just to have them on the client roster. This can be very frustrating.

Advice to Senior Management

I think there is a need for more transparency from management. A media director should also be put in place.

Pros

I was fortunate enough to work on a tight-knit team that tried its best to help each other out. During my three years there, I had the pleasure of meeting many hard-working, fun, smart people. I loved the casual environment filled with young adults all working on intelligent advertising. I was able to work on big name accounts that people respected.

Cons

Specifically in my department, having a no clear leadership was extremely difficult. It seemed to me, ego within this three-headed department prevented efficiency and promotion where it really should have happened. In that case, I'm not even speaking about myself. There are also a lot of people within my department that been there for many many years in the same position. Though not proficient in their roles, these people were left to continue their sub-par work while others were expected to work longer hours on faster-paced accounts while being subjected to more scrutiny. Also, while my direct supervisor was appreciative of hard work, this did not seem to register with the three managers. They had no idea what we did on a day-to-day basis and gave no credit where credit was due. Personal agenda again seemed to get in the way of recognition. Upon leaving, I was told by someone still at Merkley that morale was extremely low with "65% of people looking for work elsewhere". While advertising is a tough business, this agency does not compensate at a rate that makes the work seem worth it.

Advice to Senior Management

Leaving three people in charge of a department does NOT work. While two of the three threaten to leave if the third is promoted, that is no reason not to make the tough management decision. Also, leaving accounts to people for two years while the tough work is done then trying to come back in and manage them and regain control does not work - especially after the client has already given their trust to those who work on the accounts on a day-to-day basis. It only creates resentment.