WPP AUNZ owned Active Display Group dumps CEO in company restructure
Active Display Group, the point-of-sale display company fully owned by WPP AUNZ, has dumped its CEO as part of its bid to ‘transform’ the struggling business as it deals with a declining market which has seen retailers including Myer and Revlon cut back on in-store marketing spend.
Chairman of the company, David Gittus told staff in an email yesterday he would be stepping in to replace former CEO Deane Hubball while the company looked for a replacement.
Former Active Display Group CEO, Deane Hubball
What a horrendous internal communication. I hope WPP didn’t endorsed this. They should look for a new Chairman too and refresh the board!
Sounds like the beginnings of a train wreck. Nice strategy… blame your two biggest clients for your inability to execute.
[Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy] disgraceful email.
Sounds a lot like a long history of high overheads that should have been reigned in by the board long ago.
Then get in Hubball in and ask for miracles in 18 months? Hmm
I’d like to know, if Gittus “has remained closely involved with the business in his role as Executive Chairman ” then surely he either a) knew what was going on and didn’t act…or b) didn’t know what was going on and let it. But let’s blame Hubball.
Either way, so poorly handled, hardly a great PR job for anybody involved or Active display.
The CEO was a great operator and his strategy was right. They didn’t give him enough time to see the benefits of these changes. Shame on you WPP !
Typical WPP. Buy a company they know nothing about. Pay too much for it and then get a gun in to fix it but only give the poor guy 18 months to fix it. God help the guy tasked with running it.
Active needs to Market to the business they are chasing.
Active is in a Market that is currently in a rock and a hard place Print and Retail. With digital media vastly taking over Print and online retail as a major player in customer shopping the company needs to adapt to future adaptations or it will be over taken by smaller competitive companies with less overheads. Whilst Active in recent years have moved into the shop fitting side giving their clients a one stop solution for all their needs. That is fantastic solution for your existing customers, but how are you going to get the customers if they do not know you exist ? A quick google search under Shop fitters will show nothing for Active. Not wanting to attract small clients ? Those clients can potentially become larger or imagine if 1 client turned into 2 or more ? The competition is fierce. (Piranha whist small can bring down a big fish)
Active needs to look at taking on the market of smaller clients than just sticking with major clients such as Myer / Revlon having there eggs in one basket. Myer for example have closed stores as sales are down and unless things drastically change this could be a worry for not only Active but Myer. Revlon on the other hand could easily turn there business into a online operation .
So where does that leave Actives future ? The future potentially could be a very exciting time with new technology especially with digital media such as thinly wrap around LCD`s that will revolutionize the way not only how we see things advertised but how we could read our News papers.
Market correctly , Put the word out there and seek the clients they wont come to you . The days of past are past its a new era so adapt.