Hello creative directors. Today I learned about a situation at a well-known agency. A very senior account executive changed creative work in a deck, and that led to the work not selling. The creatives learned about it in the preso. What would you do in the situation? Would you go up against somebody way above you on the ladder? Going to the CCO apparently is not possible politically.

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I would go to the cco in a heartbeat political or not, that's one of the many reasons why they are there

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Do three things:
1. Talk to the account person that did it. Tell them if they aren't comfortable with the work to please talk to you about it so you can work together to make the presentation perfect. Their response and tone will shape the next conversation you have, which is:
2. Talk to your ECD or the CCO. This needs to be flagged and stopped.
3. From now on, share the creative work as an uneditable pdf only.

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Export as jpgs, drag into acrobat, works every time

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Yeah that’s one of the few things a CCO is actually there for. If you have a direct boss like an ECD, them as well, and first.

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It is sort of a metaphor for what has happened in creative services in general.

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CCO 100% and that would get the conversation going with the business lead of the account and other C-Suite if necessary.

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I would have told the executive exactly what I thought to their face. And then vowed never to work with them again in any capacity, even if it cost me my job. But, if I was a CCO and had any power, I’d ensure they were out within a week.

likefunny

Definitely let the CCO know. This is part of my job to educate people outside of creative on how to respect creatives and the work. Less so about work not being sold because you don’t know that. But being disrespectful and wasting people’s time. Waste of utilization is a big deal for the account track, so you need to know what will stick. But I would gladly berate the little sh*t!

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I worked at an agency where an account person got fired for doing this. He was changing work at home before sending it to the client.

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If the cco is weak, you go to the executive’s boss and/or the CEO with a letter signed by whoever has the moral fortitude to do so.

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If you can’t talk to your CCO, you are in the wrong agency or in the wrong industry.

As far as account person, that’s grounds for dismissal.

Good luck in finding an outcome you can sleep with.

- A CCO

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Think what would happen if a Senior Copywriter changed the price of a scope in a pitch deck and it DID sell. Tell the ECD and or the CCO and if that’s not an option you are definitely at a very bad shop.

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This happened at Anomaly all the time. No one could talk to the CCO because he’d accuse you of not being a team player. I left before I could see him get fired.

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