Advertising Industry in Detroit

[mrrichard]

I don't know about giving the tax credits for another industry, when or where will it end.?
I believe that Chrysler and GM will go bankrupt again or be a fraction of what they are now.
What this state needs is getting government regulation / involvement out of the way for small business owners can take over where others left off.

[Patrick]

I worked at a fairly large ad agency in Southfield for a while. The place was managed by a bunch of fucking retards who tried to keep it in the family at least from what I remember. A lot of ad agencies in SE Michigan are NOT affiliated with the auto industry anymore. I know a lot of posters would like to think they are….but most aren’t. The shop I worked at had offices around the country and always had people from out of town.

In this economy you’d be a fucking dolt to pass up a job anywhere, whether it is in Detroit or Des Moines. A LOT of people between the ages of 22 and 32 are just now starting to realize that money talks and geographic locations and all that other fluffy shit comes afterwards. # years ago, some nub fresh out of Michigan State would almost always jump ship to Chicago, whoever if, IF he or she can find a job anywhere, they are going to take it. In this economy, regionalist attitudes have take a back seat to putting bead on the table.

With that said, a buddy of mine worked at Doner and they had a lot of folks transfer from their closed Baltimore shop to Southfield. Every person who made the move pissed and moaned….and they still do. However, a few mentioned that they were lucky as hell to even have a job…anywhere.

[4Oranges]

If I'm not mistaken, BBDO Detroit [[then Ross Roy) was in Detroit - in the old GM building - when Chrysler was also downtown [[or Hazel Park)?? Ross Roy moved to Bloomfield Hills around the time Chrysler moved to Auburn Hills. I could be totally off on the timing, but seems to me Chrysler left for the suburbs before Ross Roy did...??? Anyone?

[4Oranges]

Two corrections....Chrysler was in Highland Park and indeed Ross Roy moved to Bloomfield Hills before Chrysler landed in Auburn Hills. Oh well - so much for that angle.

[MotownSpartan]

Like I said, if you want to argue that a stronger, healthier city would lure more businesses, and then in turn the ad agencies here would be stronger because they have more clients, than I can see where you're coming from.

This is basically what I was asking about. To what extent do Detroit's [[as a city) woes contribute to industry woes? Imagine a recent college graduate or other industry talent with multiple offers in cities like Chicago, Detroit, SF, etc. What is going to bring that person to a Detroit suburb over those other cities?

[Det_ard]

How important to a typical ad agency are the young "creative class" types [[say, under 30 years old) and how important are the more senior types? In my limited experience on the client side, most of the people I dealt with, including the creative types, were well out of their single, club-hopping, urban lifestyle years. Are the great ideas actually coming from a bullpen of 20-somethings that I never saw? Who makes the agencies go?

[gnome]

MoSpar, It is truly painful reading your posts. Your cluelessness is only outdone by a complete misunderstanding of how any business works, let alone the advertising business. You have received your answer several times from a variety of your betters; yet, you persist if proffering a theory firmly entrenched in the soft sand of anecdotalism.

What is left of Detroit's advertising industry will do just fine in missing out on all of the recent grads from your sub-par school of advertising. Don't worry. You too won't be missed.

You might want move far away to a land where people will appreciate your dogged gnawing of ridiculous concepts.

I understand there is an openning in Iraq's Ministry of Information.

[Zimm]

How important to a typical ad agency are the young "creative class" types [[say, under 30 years old) and how important are the more senior types? In my limited experience on the client side, most of the people I dealt with, including the creative types, were well out of their single, club-hopping, urban lifestyle years. Are the great ideas actually coming from a bullpen of 20-somethings that I never saw? Who makes the agencies go?

agencies are vampires that live on the blood of the young and able, who are willing to do the work of the agency for embarrassingly low salaries.

most senior execs at ad agencies are living off the work or contacts they made a decade or more ago.

[MotownSpartan]

MoSpar, It is truly painful reading your posts. Your cluelessness is only outdone by a complete misunderstanding of how any business works, let alone the advertising business. You have received your answer several times from a variety of your betters; yet, you persist if proffering a theory firmly entrenched in the soft sand of anecdotalism.

What is left of Detroit's advertising industry will do just fine in missing out on all of the recent grads from your sub-par school of advertising. Don't worry. You too won't be missed.

You might want move far away to a land where people will appreciate your dogged gnawing of ridiculous concepts.

I understand there is an openning in Iraq's Ministry of Information.

Such vitriol! I don't know why you feel the need to put people down in order to make your point... which seems to be nothing other than an attack.

I am merely provoking discussion on this issue. Clearly, the Detroit advertising industry is hurting right now, this is obviously caused by a variety of factors. Given that the name of this board is DetroitYes! I though it might be appropriate to start a conversation on the nature of urban spaces and creativity and also to ask questions about why almost all of the Detroit agencies are located in suburbs rather than the city center. Some posters have provided useful information on why some agencies have chosen to be out in the 'burbs [[closer to a particular client) but I don't think this necessarily ends the conversation about the entire issue.

[gnome]

Pal, that was not vitriol. You don't know vitriol. What that was was some gentle advice on a web forum. Walk into a business situation with such tripe and you will find a hobnailed boot stuck directly between your back pockets.

[cloud_wall]

Your cluelessness is only outdone by a complete misunderstanding of how any business works, let alone the advertising business. You have received your answer several times from a variety of your betters; yet, you persist if proffering a theory firmly entrenched in the soft sand of anecdotalism.

Nice juxtaposition of "cluelessness" and "misunderstanding," Gnome. We young folks have a lot to learn from our betters such as yourself.

This thread has provided a lot of interesting information and perspective from folks inside and outside the advertising industry. That someone would contribute to that with anecdotes is not surprising. Or terrible. Or a proper subject for a frothy rant. It's an internet forum. It makes a lot of sense actually.

Thanks for a great thread, Spartan.

[MotownSpartan]

Bad news for BBDO. Very sorry to hear this. http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...FREE/911099977


If the state legislature were ever going to extend the film tax credit to ad agencies, now is the time.

[MotownSpartan]

http://detnews.com/article/20100308/...rtising-agency

Looks like a major account may leave Donor, I really hope that's not the case. Again, I keep reading in the papers that there is a "brain drain" in Michigan and that more young, educated people are leaving than coming. This must make it more difficult to recruit talent than in cities that are experiencing "brain gain."

I wonder if they all committed to putting their offices in a single area downtown if they could really revive that district, help revive downtown, and thus make it easier to recruit young talent to the Detroit area -- improving their own agencies cache in the process.

Of course Donor is an excellent agency and I don't mean to imply that this negative news has any direct connection to their office location in Southfield. However, I do think that on the whole, the abandonment of downtown Detroit by the metro business community has had a negative effect on the overall business climate in SE Michigan, especially in terms of recruiting and retaining the "creative class."

[Zimm]

The vast majority of the Doner work done for Mazda was handled out of their Newport Beach, CA office.

http://detnews.com/article/20100308/...rtising-agency

Looks like a major account may leave Donor, I really hope that's not the case. Again, I keep reading in the papers that there is a "brain drain" in Michigan and that more young, educated people are leaving than coming. This must make it more difficult to recruit talent than in cities that are experiencing "brain gain."

I wonder if they all committed to putting their offices in a single area downtown if they could really revive that district, help revive downtown, and thus make it easier to recruit young talent to the Detroit area -- improving their own agencies cache in the process.

Of course Donor is an excellent agency and I don't mean to imply that this negative news has any direct connection to their office location in Southfield. However, I do think that on the whole, the abandonment of downtown Detroit by the metro business community has had a negative effect on the overall business climate in SE Michigan, especially in terms of recruiting and retaining the "creative class."

[MotownSpartan]

That's good to hear, while I certainly don't want to see anyone lose their job anywhere, I feel especially attached to jobs here in the metro-Detroit area.

By the way, Newport Beach is another suburban office location isn't it?