I get “fired” in a tense client meeting, but I get the last laugh
I stick around a job I was leaving long enough to star in a staged execution.
Last week I mentioned the infighting that PepsiCo and Taco Bell were famous for, and how nasty their intramural nonsense was for us at FCB San Francisco.
I got my own dose of this, but in a happy turnabout, the rivalry between FCB’s San Francisco and New York offices helps land me the gig that made my career
But first, an uneasy and extended truce
Word had gotten back to my boss, FCB San Francisco’s CEO, that I was out interviewing after only a few months on the job. When his rage subsided, we agreed I’d back-burner my job hunt and keep working to save the Taco Bell business—the job I was hired for.
Come January, he’d cooled down enough to ask Brendan Ryan, CEO of FCB/NY, if he’d be willing to talk to me.
Lucky for me, these guys hated each other.
My FCB/SF boss had dwindling support at the agency, a bulldog style that wasn’t aging well, a shrinking growth and profit outlook, and no fans around the FCB network.
Meanwhile, Brendan—a hilarious and profane force of nature, beloved by his people and backed up by his equally talented #2, Charlie Taney—was leading an impressive growth streak and pulling ahead of San Francisco.
I flew back to meet Brendan and Charlie in New York in February, and Brendan opened the conversation gleefully declaring he was only meeting me to spite my boss, not because of my resume. We all laughed and hit it off immediately.
I get the offer in March, but agree to stay on until Memorial Day
I’m hired onto the fast-growing AT&T business, but with a hitch: the CEOs agree that I’m to continue leading the defense of the Taco Bell business until June, giving everyone time to plan all the personal and professional transitions.
A final, pre-meditated stunt
In May, the FCB/SF CEO and his finance chief, under growing pressure by Taco Bell and PepsiCo, use my delay in leaving the agency to cook up a nasty stunt: At an upcoming showdown at Taco Bell, when grievances get aired in the room, they will falsely lay as much blame on me as possible, then stage my firing “on the spot” in a dramatic demonstration of the agency’s commitment to retain the business.
I know nothing of this plot as the meeting gets underway, nor do the clients have any idea I was already “out the door” months ago.
It goes down as planned, and Taco Bell delights in the bloodletting
Since intramural attacks were Taco Bell’s favorite blood-sport, they loved it, the agency bought more time, and I was freed to finally get my family back to New York.
FCB New York grabs the AT&T tiger by the tail
A crazy coincidence, six months earlier: On Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, 1993—on the very day I was confronted for job hunting back in New York—FCB/NY won the AT&T business.
The agency was called out to AT&T on Thanksgiving Eve and learned that the AT&T tiger was triple the size they’d pitched for and would likely bulk-up for years.
It did, and over those years the agency landed two more monster accounts—the US Postal Service and Citibank—leaving FCB/SF forever in the dust.
We return home and everything clicks
Liz and I fly back to New York a few weeks after my staged “firing,” land a great house in the afternoon, and celebrate that night with my brother and his wife at an intimate Stevie Wonder benefit performance for the non-profit I was still part of.
The best omen of my good fortunes? I learn the next week that my precious train station parking permit is still valid—no 5-year wait required!
We raised our kids in Westport and made lifelong friends there—a group of whom we’re actually dining with up there tonight!