Oh to be a fly on the wall at WPP's internal meeting of company bigwigs in California last month: Sir Martin Sorrell invited some of the top brains from Deloitte Digital, the management consulting firm's digital agency, to present. Deloitte audits WPP's accounts while Deloitte Digital is moving into advertising, so the consulting firm is something of a frenemy. Sorrell apparently went into full hairdryer mode on-stage as he questioned Deloitte Digital's business model and tested the visitors on their numbers. The chaps from Deloitte Digital didn't know what had hit them and were left reeling.
While Sorrell's defence of the status quo is admirable (he had to endure a £22m pay cut this year, remember), think of those who are trying to break into the industry but are saddled with the sort of debt that he's probably dropped down the side of his sofa. Well, Elliott Starr, a creative at Fallon, has. In fact he’s helping people who can’t afford to go to ad school with a free online tool at whre he dispenses advice for those wanting to get into the industry. While he acknowledges that it isn’t an alternative to ad school, it includes chapters on what to expect, a reading list and a mentorship scheme. Hats off to that man.
Equally admirably, Dave Monk, the executive creative director of Publicis London, displayed Entente Cordiale recently when he led a team of eight from its Baker Street headquarters to Publicis Conseil in Paris by bike. The team made the 166-mile journey in under 48 hours and managed to raise over £4,000 for the National Autistic Society in the process. Monk et al have challenged their French counterparts to a similar competitive event next year – let’s see the "power of one" in action.
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