Pros
Our “C-Suite” is blind, and its under-qualified, over-paid cronies are blind too. It’s convenient to manage an agency with impaired vision, easier to ignore the real issues. This blindness causes the “fearless leaders” to try and sell the rest of the company a culture and vision that is a farce. The occasional party is nice, but merely used as a band-aid to what is really happening. The leadership mess is a shame, because there are some really good, passionate and hardworking people at Innocean.
Kontras
Culture + Awards = Growth. WHAT? This culture = disaster is more like it. This agency measures itself by a number of awards they (think) they will miraculously rack up, versus producing the kind of work that will benefit the client. Leadership actually believes the awards, (instead of noteworthy client success) equals growth. The days of racking up awards walked out the door about two years ago, and so did great ideas. In fact, great ideas have an early death at Innocean, and most never see the light of day, as does our passion when we enter this industry and find ourselves working here. Client focus isn’t just lost, it barely exists. Poor, feckless leadership keeps morale low, employees are overworked and disenfranchised, and benefits continue to decrease. We are trailing edge, no leaders in this space. And just when we think “new” is about to become “now”, we get a new highly touted head of strategy, who spends so much time talking about her accomplishments no one has ever heard of, that she can’t possibly have time to bring her many promises to life and help us “Discover Beyond” (her ego). Catch-up Innocean! Or maybe not, because catching-up won’t make us a company of futurists! It will just give us parity! Maybe. For the poor souls who stick around.