There was an article written last week on Adweek.com about Andrew Keller leaving this agency that can use some clarification.
Specifically, there was a quote from Lori Senecal to the effect that if something's not working we have to get rid of it. In the context of the article, she seemed to be referring to Andrew Keller. She most definitely wasn't. I know, I was there. What we were talking about at that point were systems, processes and hierarchies that make the agency less nimble, less flexible and don't contribute to the work.
We made a decision a while ago to diffuse the creative leadership of the agency and to give each office total creative autonomy. The objective was simple: to enable us to attract a greater number of powerful and entrepreneurial creative leaders and, ultimately, to do better work. That decision was made well before Lori got here, and Andrew took part in that process.
All of us are grateful to him for that and for a million other things. And everything that was said about Andrew in the interview reflected the agency's respect, admiration and appreciation. That didn't make it into the article.
I understand people who reacted negatively to the article's portrayal of Andrew's departure. I was one of them. But it's kind of interesting that the criticism I've seen seems to be coming from people who know nothing about the agency, nothing about who did what work, nothing about Lori Senecal and nothing about me.
Anyway, thanks for reading this. I apologize for prolonging this conversation, but when you can, I think you should illuminate gossip and speculation with a bit of truth.
The last time I wrote a letter to the editor was a long, long time ago when Alex Bogusky was quoted as saying that starting an agency in Miami was like starting one in Tijuana. What he clearly meant was that they're both way outside the advertising mainstream, but what somebody wrote was that he was anti-Hispanic.
That was such an unfair and hurtful accusation that it had to be addressed.
I thought this one did too.
Chuck Porter is chairman at Crispin Porter + Bogusky and was was recently inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame.