DDB Group Sydney confirms redundancies
DDB Group Sydney’s CEO has confirmed that over a dozen redundancies will happen this week, after industry speculation.
In a statement sent to Mumbrella on Tuesday, Sheryl Marjoram said: “Recently, we’ve had interest from the press about the possibility of redundancies at DDB Group Sydney. It’s understandable, as this is a complex time for many agencies, and everyone is interested in the decisions being made as we all set up for 2025.
“We will be making redundancies within our group this week. Redundancies within creative agencies are an unfortunate cost of doing business, but they are not just a business matter; they are also a human matter.”
DDB Group Sydney did not comment on individual names, but did share that 15 employees will be affected.
Marjoram continued: “People who have done brilliant things for DDB Group, who are both talented and nice, will be affected. They will leave with the support of our EAP program, our connections to assist in finding their next role, and our commitment to be of help in any way possible.”
“These are moments none of us got into this business for, but when they inevitably come, we believe in handling them in the most respectful way possible, with all the care, comfort and privacy we can offer,” she concluded.
The redundancies come during a difficult period for the agency. Late last year, DDB Group Sydney announced it will part ways with long-term client Westpac, after the bank made the decision to “move in a new direction” with its creative account.
While the pitch was down to the final three – Accenture Song, Saatchi & Saatchi, and VML – in late December, Westpac re-invited the final five agencies – the three aforementioned as well as DDB and Howatson+Co – to re-pitch.
“As we move into a new phase of the pitch, we thank those agencies which have been unsuccessful,” a Westpac spokesperson said.
“We will have more to say about the future of the Westpac creative account once a final decision has been made.”
It also recently lost a portion of the McDonald’s Australia creative account, with the McCafe and Chicken remit being handed to Wieden+Kennedy, after a pitch.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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Why make a comment to the trade press about this in advance of said redundancies?
Surely a “no comment” would would suffice for the next 72 hours and then release a statement after it’s all done.
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Clearly very few PR skills in this comment.
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