Restructuring email gaffe at Carat US spooks staff

by Staff, Brand Republic 04-Sep-08, 09:10

LONDON - Staff at Carat in the US have been given an early warning of upcoming job cuts after its HR boss accidentally sent the entire company a briefing for senior management.

According to US reports, the documents in the email sent yesterday were intended to give managers guidance on how to explain the restructuring to employees, clients and the press.

The number of job cuts was not disclosed, but the documents indicated that the restructuring would occur later this month and would involve a consolidation of the buying team in New York. Carat US president Scott Sorokin later said the cuts would be across various parts of the agency.

Carat's parent company Aegis last week warned about slowing demand in the US, the UK and Spain in its first-half results statement.

Carat's US operation recently lost Hyundai's $800m media planning and buying account to Initiative and has lost other business such as New Line Cinema.

The briefing documents to help Carat managers communicate the changes include the following message for clients: "Mary Smith will be moving off your business. Now that we understand your business better, we are replacing her with someone who we feel will be a better partner for you."

Comments

alex parr - 04/09/2008

poor mary

jezwaspsrule - 04/09/2008

was she any good?

Mel Carson - 04/09/2008

maybe I won't buy that Bentley just yet: http://community.brandrepublic.com/blogs/digitales/archive/2008/09/04/direct-marketing-alive-amp-well-in-victoria.aspx

Michael Weston - 04/09/2008

Maybe this was a cunning way of communicating it to everyone at the same time - a kind of post modernist approach to internal marketing. Presumably "various parts of the agency" could include the suddlenly less relevant HR department?