Pros
Great overall talent level... used its independence in the right way for the most part... successfully made its way from design to commercials to interactive... has a real culture and sense of style going back to the design days... will go above and beyond to service the employees with catered lunches, own taxi gym, coffee stand, presents & bonuses end of year... despite flaws still one of the premiere shops in canada and not many others better, maybe sid lee is in its class
Cons
Senior personnel choices hit-or-miss... arguably in decline since its glory days... expanded its network too fast and spread its best talent too thin which depleted the powerhouse main agency... Amsterdam and NY acquisitions arguably cost more than they were worth and i don't mean money... different factions, surprising amount of infighting, a bit of a boys club... PR efforts for itself always better than the reality... work is more sizzle & pop than relevant... strategy group is weaker than it should be... TV is cute but no true talk value.... digital is still trapped in the era of Flash microsites and banners... integrated doesn't really happen... too top heavy... way too many ecds/creative directors/brand leads/acds for its size just look at their website... main Toronto office has become complacent with safe work while other smaller offices don't all pull weight... has lost its edge in identifying the best emerging talent and using them to fill the ranks as people leave... refuses to learn the right lessons from mistakes... ecd level up is disconnected from the work and the operations that go on daily... no way to tell how the wpp takeover is going to change the place... has a real crispin complex