Lowe Manila has cut 6 jobs; WPP has a regional freeze hire and at least two agencies have the same locally; all else are poking new holes in belts that couldn’t get any tighter. TVC production is down. Most indicative of all, the whole year has been one endless pitch.
These are the bellwethers of a slowdown. While pre-committed spending and the famous Filipino optimism/denial will carry us through Christmas, many forecasts have reality biting by Q1 next year.
Lowe Manila’s official statement, issued after a high-profile redundancy set rumors flying, is telling for the whole industry:
"We had to "right size" the agency because of the reduction in revenue & volume of work brought about by the exit of the Surf & Rexona Regional Advertising Centers at [yearend]. These will be transferred to Singapore/ Bangkok in response to Unilever’s move to centralize their regional staff. As a result, we had to declare 4 people redundant and retire 2 others [from Creative and Admin departments]. So what you heard through the grapevine was much exaggerated."
Hold on to your bonus if you’re lucky enough to have one, folks.
