I must admit, I’m skating on thin ice this week, and with my extra ballast, that’s always dicing with death but hey, welcome to the murky world of agency bosses.
Now when I first heard the name Alexei Orlov I thought he was a new cute character in the ComparetheMeerkat campaign, rather than an agency big shot, although it is alleged that this particular Orlov is far from cuddly.
At the risk of having my fingers broken off and shoved up my own ass there will still be plenty of people trying to get a doll of him, if only to stick a few pins in it – if recent allegations prove correct.
Mind you, old Alexei could have had a lucky escape if the creative chief who filed a harassment case against him is the martial arts legend who everyone is saying he is…
Apparently, in agency circles Orlov’s been known as a “count” for years; then again, agencies can’t spell.
Still, according to glassdoor.co.uk – the website which allows staff to review their employers – our man has a 62% approval rating among employees. Interesting.
So just where can you find a decent employer in agency-land? According to glassdoor, you may not want to go to one well-known Publicis-owned DM shop, whose founders have now all departed. It is described as having a “lack of leadership” with “no strategic direction, which means people are leaving in droves”. It also has “low morale” and an “ego-maniac creative director”. Oh dear.
But it’s not all bad. Over at Wunderman, apparently “the new ECD Ian is great and is making the place feel like a creative agency again”. At least someone appreciates him then…
And at Proximity London, CEO Mike Dodds gets 100% approval. One reviewer said: “The CEO is literally one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Lovely people, I mean really lovely. All of them. Great culture, they don’t work you to the bone like other agencies.”
So, you see, not all agency chiefs are complete counts…
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