What’s The Upside Of Working For Grey?
September 28, 2007
Working for Grey has its upsides? Sounds like it. Sources say that ex-employees of the death star agency often reunite. Think of it like an alumni mixer. In fact, there’s one this Tuesday that mashes together a send-off of a female employee at Grey with the “what have you been up to” vibe of other get togethers. Also worth noting is that Grey often brings back folks they’ve fired or have quit. Odd, but true.
Grey has some wonderful people toiling away in the bowls of the ship. They actually, you know - like each other. Think of it this way - we’re positive that the storm troopers got together and played a little cards, talked about families, sent cards around to sign when mum’s were ill. It’s just Darth Vader, General Tagge and all the other bigwigs that everyone hated.
The comment section on the recent articles about G2 and on other posts about Grey Worldwide got us thinking. If you take out all the crap about management, what you have is a bunch of people talking about how great everyone is that works there. Like this one:
GuerrilaGirl says: “Their is so much talent and amazing individuals here at G2i that it’s sad to see the way John Paulson has destroyed the moral… letting Mallory Anhouse conduct the dirty work…”
This may be true for lots of agencies, but the folks at Grey have made it a point to make sure we know that they stick together in the face of evil.
Read More: JWT Is Suffering
September 30, 2007 at 4:23 pm
While I agree with the gist of your post, not sure you can lump G2 and Grey together. They’re seperate agencies in seperate buildings with different clients. Just share the letter “G”
At places where people aren’t all clawing each other to get ahead, the underlings tend to like each other because they’re not backstabbing each other.
October 2, 2007 at 9:36 pm
The upside of working for Grey is knowing it couldn’t be as bad as working for fucking Draft/FCB!
Cheers/George
October 3, 2007 at 1:50 pm
I worked at GREY (777 third) around late 90’s to early 00’s. This was before all the dark side choas. Before Ed Meyer left, before the Colorwheel scandal, Before the Dot com bubble burst, etc…
As one of the unnamed soldiers working in the bowls of the ship, at least back in 2000, it still was like an episode of ‘Ugly Betty’ with people clawing and posturing to get into Director level+ positions.
October 3, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Grey in NO WAY is as bad as working at Draft/FCB. In the first place, Ed Meyer and his henchmen are totally gone and the culture has changed. Nevertheless, Meyer knew how to run an ad agency and was second to none in the area of client service. That is NOT something that could be said about the thugs at Draft/FCB. The Grey management has changed completely over the past couple of years, it’s FAR less oppressive AND there still are some smart people remaining there. Perhaps some of the new hires are smart, too…that I wouldn’t know…Grey was always known for hiring smart people - albeit it did house more evil people than perhaps necessary, but, for the most part the evil ones really are truly gone! I wholeheartedly support George’s remark: The upside of working for Grey is knowing it couldn’t be as bad as….Draft/FCB” He’s right, trust me, it isn’t!!!
October 3, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I worked at Grey Advertising in New York during the seventies. I met some fantastic people; we all worked hard and there was a great vibe about the place. I have no idea what it’s like today but I loved it then.
November 2, 2007 at 1:45 pm
I worked at Grey a few years ago and loved it! The people are amazing. Sadly it isn’t a very creative agency but all and all its a good place to be.
March 1, 2008 at 8:30 am
I worked at G2 few years ago. I remember having the most crazy fantastic moments with possibly the most insane group of people there. Everybody had fun except the few who didn’t fit in and ultimately chose to leave. I was 100% sure that there was no other agencies with culture and ambience that can match up to G2’s. It was unbelievably great.
Now the new era has begun w/ new exec level. ppl of G2 and Grey all are mixed up and stuck between the chaotic internal politics in the upper level. It’s sad to see a corp.culture so hard to find evaporate. the old crew is leaving the place one by one, and i must say I can’t blame them.
March 3, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I worked at Grey for 6 years in the 90’s. I’m one of those folks who left and came back. I have to say, I really liked it there! Even though Meyer was a tyrant who scared the hell out of everyone, Grey was big on comraderie. And there were financial rewards as well: raises, bonuses, and the SMIP plan for more senior folks. It was possible to have a good, solid career there working on good, solid brands.
Was Grey the most creative of agencies? No. But did we ALL try to do great creative? Of course!
There were only a few of the real “evil” people clawing there way to the top. But guess what? There are people like that in every agency, hell in every company! It wasn’t necessary to be that way to succeed at Grey.
Grey hired very smart people, and tried to give us the tools we needed to make our clients successful. Our opinions actually were solicited occasionally, and I never felt disrespected there. I worked for 2 different EVPs and both really tried to foster a group spirit.
My big mistake was actually leaving Grey the second time. It’s totally changed now, and I won’t go back. I’ll never work for a WPP agency - all Sorrell cares about is dollars/euros NOT advertising.
I’ll always think of Grey as a terrific place to work, with good people, many of whom I still keep in touch with.