WE Communications Reviews

Pros

Having been with the agency for a number of years, I've seen our agency go through quite a bit of change and there are so many more opportunities now to learn something other than tech PR. The people that work here really are passionate about what they do; it's not an agency that will work for everyone, but those that succeed here have really been the ones who work hard with the team mentality; everyone's in it together Leadership - Melissa is a genuine leader and is transparent when she can be. Of course there are so many decisions made at the top level that some of us will never know about, but having been under her leadership for so many years, I've seen her as being someone very genuine and that cares about everyone, even if she doesn't know you personally. Clients are growing - not just tech PR at all anymore Fun people who come together and work hard

Cons

Of course there are always some cons in any organization. Unfortunately in the agency world, one of those is compensation. Very tenured employees receive small raises each year that doesn't always accurately reflect the performance of the individual. New hires coming in are more than likely coming in with higher salaries. Come up with more monetary benefits/bonus structure. Everyone plays a part in the success of this company. Sometimes leaders are kept in roles much longer than they should be - despite feedback directly from teams, somehow those leaders always know to manage up and then makes the little people take the fall or not get the support they should have Wish we could expand into Los Angeles, or at least Chicago, to continue to grow. Could probably be a bit more transparent in what is happening with the agency

Pros

very good management because the manager vis very good

Cons

Not so good because the management is so so

Pros

There are some good people at the Account Manager level and below.

Cons

Are you a unique individual with outside the box thinking and a strong personality? Then run in the opposite direction. Conformity is king especially if you’re in a Microsoft account and bringing anything new to the table is lauded as “desirable” but no one actually wants it.

Pros

Have learned over the years how not to be a bad leader by observing managers who have overstayed their welcome, and making really bad decisions. I've seen individuals being disrespected, used condescending tones, second guessing your own colleagues work ethic, unaware of peoples cultures, and making comments that would lead to termination had it been said by a minority. Taking all of these expeirences, I've learned to stay away from negativity and had to change myself to work with these individuals with a fake smile, but its hard when people who have created a safe haven for themselves in this company by being there for so many years that others can never hope to succeed.

Cons

Managers being promoted for their subordinates hard work to complete projects. Cherry picked projects to assign to individuals and then setting up roadblocks so they can never get this achieved aka setting them up failure.

Pros

Great work/life balance, scope-creep protection, great customer service, strong work ethic, high-quality work, stellar creative talent and work, general friendliness of everyone.

Cons

Inexperience in advertising - keep in mind that this is a PR-first agency so much if not all of the advertising business has been built out of PR work, not been pitched and won thanks to experience, expertise, and capabilities. Consequently, media experience and knowledge were limited across most of the agency except within the media team (which was tiny) and there were few tools. There was little focus on building out advertising as evidenced by biz dev. While there were solid ad agency hires in upper management to the team during my time, those above and below that level had limited knowledge of how media worked within and across channels: what is a pixel, how to effectively use retargeting, what CPM points to, identifying audience overlap, how to build a pivot table, how to properly set up and measure an A/B test, understanding importance of R/F, importance of site-side measurement, siloed in the upper funnel without properly considering the down-funnel effects, right-sizing campaigns to budgets, attribution, how to build a media strategy deck (vs. tactics), etc., etc.

Pros

I learned how to write a good email. I learned a great deal from my Microsoft colleagues. My WE colleagues were cutthroat however.

Cons

I've never worked someplace where there are so many women working to cut each other down. The pettiness and the obsession with hierarchy here is just beyond toxic. Management rewards tattling and acting out. This is not a place to stay.

Pros

Great training opportunities, paid time off to serve, frequent catered meals, and chance to see (and play a part in) how big companies like Microsoft run their communications. I had a wonderful manager who looked out for me.

Cons

A lot of grueling, rote work--mostly hours upon hours spent recapping and analyzing the news--with little personal payoff. Less opportunity to pursue creative ideas at this level. Working to support a complex product I didn't understand well and had little passion for.

Pros

Smart people, good clients, lots of opportunity to learn

Cons

Hierarchical, favortism can get in the way sometimes