Advertising Agencies and the Covid 19

This post is in response to the requests of several MR readers regarding the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on advertising agencies in the United States. As is often the case, I was surprised at the candor of agency principals and management who agreed to weigh in on this very difficult issue.

Before, we go in to specifics, a few caveats:

1) I did not ask anyone from a major holding company ( WPP, Omnicom, Publicis, or Interpublic ) to participate. The people who responded were from independent mid-sized or small shops.

2) Currently, I reside in Towson, Maryland. I deliberately did not call anyone in the Maryland/DC area or local readers would try to figure out who the players were.

3) To further protect sources, I edited their comments partially to avoid repetitive statements, kept real names out of it, sometimes changed genders, and, as a former altar boy, cleaned up a lot of the language when comments were heated.

4) This does not pretend to be a representative sample of the agency universe. I talked to people who trust me and have known me for a long time or who read MR and frequently contact me directly.

Here are some edited verbatims from my sources:

—Fairly large mid-sized company CEO—“this pandemic amazingly has helped me separate the “wheat from the chaff” among my employees. Some people, even the older ones, are doing a great job working remotely. They stay in touch, are on time with everything, and do not need as much hand holding as I expected. Two have told me that they are terrified of being let go so appear to be more conscientious than ever. On the other hand, a few are big disappointments to me. They appear to be spending more time on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video than working. When we return, our company will be smaller as we have lost some business that is not coming back. My lease on office space runs through October and I had a candid talk with my landlord via FaceTime. He will put us in smaller space and understands my situation. I have problems for sure but over the next few years commercial real estate has to be a nightmare.


—Creative Chief, Mid-Sized—“every year I would hire maybe two new creatives fresh from college or art school. This year, only one. The guy says he will stay with us if he can work 100% remotely. It is insane. He is 23! I am a hands on executive. My team has always learned from one another and a coffee in the break room or poking my head in to someone’s office for a minute or two a few times per day helps our product and brings along the rookies. Yes, the kid is tech savvy compared to my two 50+ team members. But, I do not know his work ethic and he needs supervision and how to become a team player.”

—Principal, Small Agency—“I caught two employees doing freelance and late with our client work. The idiots used company e-mail instead of their personal e-mail. I told everyone I would check in daily and sometimes look at all correspondence. They say I cannot stop them from doing freelance. True, but as long as they draw a salary from me, my work comes first and is on time.”

—President, Mid-Sized—“Some people need the structure that an office setting can provide. One of my stars is really struggling at home. He has small kids and loves spending more time with them but his work is weak these days. I have him come in to our empty office two days a week now and it seems to be helping.”

—Principal. Smaller Mid-Sized—“I have a long term employee who has always been a pain in the ass. He managed one of our larger pieces of business and the client loves him. Well, the client told me that she will close her doors by September 1st. I will say adios to the arrogant jerk at that time. His protector will be gone."

"What some of my staffers do not seem to grasp is that we are in a small city. I will have to lay off several staffers and job opportunities will be VERY scarce. Everyone needs to excel right now.”

—Independent, Successful Graphic Designer—“Some people, not I, have terrible issues with child care right now. Trying to juggle little kids and getting assignments done is hard these days. Also, some people are not emotionally equipped to work solo as I am. CEO’s need to understand this. I have been getting extra business during the pandemic as freelance is my game and my turnaround time is very good. Everyone is not able to do it.”


Everyone is nervous about the long haul picture. Not a single person said that things will ever be “normal” pre-March 2020 again. To a person, all said that the pandemic has sped up the decline of conventional media significantly.


If you would like to contact Don Cole directly, you may reach him at doncolemedia@gmail.com or leave a message on the blog.