GPY&R and Ideaworks deny creative merger: ‘They’re sitting and working together’
The Y&R Group has brought together the creative departments of GPY&R and Ideaworks in a single space, but has denied the move is a merger stating that creatives are merely “sitting and working together”.
The group has confirmed a redesign of the creative department has brought creatives from retail specialists Ideaworks, creative agency GPY&R and production house Studio 35 together.
Retooling the agency has also resulted in about seven redundancies across the group, while Sydney MD Andrew Dowling warning that the Christmas season may not be as buoyant as some are hoping across the industry.
“Recently they rearranged the hot-desking zones in Sydney, specifically to seat all Creative across GPY&R, IdeaWorks & Studio 35 together in the same area on the floor,” A Y&R Brands spokesperson told Mumbrella.
“The logic is that the closer everyone works together, the more they will inspire each other.
“The creative departments haven’t merged. They’re sitting and working together. All the offices in Australia and New Zealand are operating as Y&R Group, offering clients creative and strategic specialists across retail, digital, data and production services – through either the IdeaWorks, GPY&R, Blaze and/or VML businesses.”
The spokesperson said the moves were part of Y&R Brands’ overarching strategy to make all its resources available to clients.
“To ensure this is done effectively, efficiently and practically, Y&R Group has a structure that allows any client to access all the resources (design, TV production, digital production, environment design etc) instead of replicating these specialist resources. This is nothing new – with the Y&R Group operating like this for some time now.”
GPY&R Sydney boss Andrew Dowling
Y&R Group managing director Andrew Dowling confirmed there had been a number of redundancies as the agency prepared for 2016.
“The redundancies from our perspective are the result of finding better and more efficient ways of working,” said Dowling.
He said the realignment of the creative teams to work together across a range of departments including creative and strategy would allow for more shared services and skills.
“From our perspective it’s not a major upheaval,” he said.
Dowling also predicted that the retail market over Christmas and the new year may not be as vibrant as many in the industry are predicting.
“Our number one challenge in Q3 and Q4 is the uncertainty of the more established bigger players,” he said.
“I think there is a general nervousness in the market. We are not as buoyant about Christmas as some are.”
Simon Canning
“From our perspective it’s not a major upheaval,”
Really?
Tell that to the families of the seven who ‘won’t be sitting and working together’ in this non merger.
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who are the severed seven please? anyone??
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retooling? that going on our bulls*t wall for sure. and the desk comments are great – musical chairs, just hope the music doesn’t stop……
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Of course not. Like Naked and BMF, they’re two very different letterheads using the same employees.
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VML is conspicuously missing from this article. Aren’t they part of the Y&R Group trio of agencies?
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Really Mumbrella ? Is it such a slow news day that you are reporting on desk relocations? What’s next? “Agency switches from premium coffee brand to Coles brand coffee. Must mean the agency is in decline”
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Hot Desk – when was the last time Y&R was in the news? If you see nothing, hear nothing, then discover there’s been some redundancies, that’s worth reporting. By their own admission they don’t see the market being vibrant – that’s also worth reporting when it’s contrary to what’s been said.
Might need to change your brand of coffee, to take the edge off perhaps?
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Excuse me?
They may use the same backend support staff, just like DDB / RAPPS, HAVAS / Arnold Furnace and Publicis / Leos do, but they are very different companies with separate suits and separate creatives.
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