From the Office of the CEO - Response to HQ
June 20th 2020
To: Martin Mallory, Group CEO, OmniMedia Inc
From: Elliott DeBeer, CEO, Lifeforce Agency
Re: NRA Follow-up/other issues
Hi Martin,
I promised to get back to you once we had conducted a post-mortem on the “Project Freedom” missed opportunity.
I met with the Executive Team (at a safe distance!) and while there was some contrition about the poor timing, they appear adamant that our staff was in open revolt against pitching for the NRA business. Like you, I find it hard to understand how, with the world suffering a pandemic, revenue reductions of the magnitude we are all experiencing and tens of millions of people unemployed, you would choose to shoot yourself and your family in the foot.
Turkeys voting for Thanksgiving indeed!
(By the way, re your new pitch date with the NRA for Deeper State and the agency from SC - we had T-shirts and polo shirts made up with the "In Guns We Trust" slogan. They are in black and pink from XXXL to S and we're happy to let the other agencies have them at cost. Good Luck!)
And in answer to your question, I don’t believe there was a single “ringleader” at our end. I think the senior team has found it hard to guide our culture and morale since the lockdown and I think with all of the focus on the news cycle and the lack of perspective their social channel bubbles afford them, this was an occasion that ignited on the Slack channels and got out of hand. I am working with our CFO, Mike Smith and the IT team on some practical solutions going forward.
You know how loyal I am to our senior team – they have been with me a long time and we’ve been through a lot together. Having said that, I would be open to having a conversation with the client services and creative leads you mentioned. I am always on the lookout for great talent and one should always keep a pulse on the market. If a new solution should emerge, it would be good to discuss whether any recruitment or severance costs could be packaged as an HQ line item during this difficult, final earn-out year as all long-term financial benefits from the agency will accrue solely to OmniMedia post-2020.
On a personal level, I’m glad that you may be able to join myself and the CMO of The Shoe Shack, Benito Muzzarelli, at The Greenwich Country Club for a round of golf on Thursday. The course is spectacular and in very good shape, so I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. As you know, Benito’s business has been facing problems, but Lifeforce has been doing a great job helping them to transition to digital as they face the challenges of Chapter 11. By the way, face masks are mandatory in the public areas of the club - I know this is an issue for you, so I hope you understand. And I hope to be able to introduce you over lunch to Tricia’s father who, as I mentioned, is head of the Membership Committee at GCC.
One final note, please Martin: I’ve been trying to get in touch with the agency’s landlord in Manhattan to discuss our return to the office. He has not been returning my calls and since OmniMedia asked to co-sign our last lease extension, I wondered if you had any insights?
With my best, as always
Elliott
Elliott DeBeer, CEO, Lifeforce Agency (part of OmniMedia Inc)