TBWA\Vancouver has filed for creditor protection. However, contrary to rumours circling the industry, agency president Andrea Southcott says her agency is very much open for business.
The agency is, however, transitioning out of the media business after losing the BC Lotteries (BCLC) media business to OMD, according Southcott. BCLC’s media spend is between $14 and $18 million. The account transition takes place at the end of March.
The creative portion of the BCLC is currently under review.
According to court documents (filed under the legal name of Bryant, Fulton & Shee Advertising Inc.), the agency owes $5.4 million in claims to creditors such as Global BC ($1.2 million) and CTV Television ($825,000).
“We are shutting down the media business, but we are not shutting down the agency—it’s business as usual,” said Southcott. “Our entire creative department is in place, all of our clients continue to work with us.”
TBWA\Vancouver won the White Spot restaurant account this month, a big Vancouver-based advertiser with a chain of 119 restaurants in B.C., Alberta and Asia. The media account was awarded to Taylor Made Media of Vancouver.
“The fact that we didn’t get the media for White Spot and are losing the BC Lotteries made sense for us to [close media],” said Southcott.
Carmen Hunt, the agency’s media director who started with the agency in 2006 as a senior media planner according to her LinkedIn profile, is among the seven media staffers that will be let go.
“The layoffs happened this week,” Southcott said. “We’ve had a number of calls from people looking to help them, and it makes me feel very good about our community and how we are pulling together.”
TBWA’s staff count was close to 40 before the layoff. The agency’s client list includes Tourism Yukon, Okanagan Springs, the Overwaitea Food Group, and 7-Eleven Canada, among others.
