Greed, Sex, Drugs, and Money – GSD&M Idea City Loses AT&T
October 25, 2007
Mediaedge:cia is the big winner today taking the estimated $3.4B AT&T account from GSD&M’s Idea City. Christ. That’s such a mouthful.The shop also beat out Digitas and OMD. All four had done previous work for the telecom in some fashion. GSD&M’s Idea City also lost lead agency status to Omnicom sibling BBDO. Ah crap. The Texas based agency also lost Chili’s Grill & Bar and Wal-Mart this past year. Those were some big accounts whose shoes are being filled by some small feet via World Market and John Deere.
On a side note, we hear that… The founders noted that their initials, which form the company’s name, could also stand for “Greed, Sex, Drugs, and Money.” Yeah. We bet they’re wishing they were rolling in all that good stuff now. Betcha bottom dollar that lots of folks are going to lose their jobs. Sorry guys.
Meanwhile, Mediaedge:cia’s UK and global divisions are on a roll. They’ve picked up the BBC Global account. They’ve also won the Canary Islands Tourist Board business, as well as Lil-ets and the UK Car Group.
Read More: Droga5 Steals From Saatchi
October 26, 2007 at 12:37 am
[...] post info By dailybiz Categories: gsd&m and jwt Tags: agency rebranding, gsd&m, GSD&M’s Idea City, jwt Times have been tough at GSD&M. One can well and truly say that their glory day are over as they have lost Wal*Mart, Chili’s and AT&T this year. Agency Spy has the autoposy. [...]
October 26, 2007 at 2:38 am
For the record, GSD&M’s Idea City did not “lose the AT&T” account. Idea City still retains the consumer products, Yellow Pages and Yellowpages.com business. Far from over my friend. Get your facts straight such as the Adweek article published earlier today.
http://www.adweek.com/aw/national/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003663501
October 26, 2007 at 4:40 am
GSD&M’s creative has been lacking lately, which is, methinks, the reason for the losses. Roy Spence is cornspicuously absent these days. He doesn’t do anything but show his face at political gatherings and put together material for a book, kinda like Pat Fallon. Anyone see a trend here? But most people in the Austin area know that GSD&M has been resting on its laurels for quite a long while. The Idea City folks had better put aside some of that hubris (they do take themselves pretty seriously down there) and actually do some work. You’re not (and never were in the first place) on Madison Avenue, GSD&M, so take your lumps.
October 26, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Oh, please. Quit trying to sugar-coat things. GSD&M still works on some creative for a small part of AT&T, but at best it’s no more than 10% of what they once had. And even what they have left, they work under BBDO for that. And, surprise, surprise, nothing GSD&M submits is getting produced. All of the account people have already left for BBDO.
As for the yellow pages account, you might as well brag about having the pony express or telegram business.
October 26, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Dailybiz:
Well said, AdGal. The kind of attitude Believer has, celebrating the retention of a small part of the account, is the sort of laurel-resting that got GSD&M in trouble in the first place.
Editor’s note: Sorry. We accidentally deleted this comment and so had to repost it.
As
November 1, 2007 at 5:10 pm
no thanks for the elitist snobitude from simpla… fuck madison ave. agencies have thrived elsewhere. it’s not the 50’s anymore, btw.