Cliff Freeman Names New CEO; Turmoil as Usual

(MoneyWatch)  Cliff Freeman & Partners CEO Jeff McLelland was asked to leave, marking another chapter of turmoil at the agency. He had only been the CEO since 2005. One imagines it must be quite difficult to work for Cliff Freeman, who remains the agency's chairman. In his video for Adweek's 30th anniversary, Freeman made it pretty clear that when clients test his work too much or otherwise bore him he just walks out on the business. McLelland, as chief client officer, may have found that style a little much.

The announcement comes with the news that the shop has named a new CEO already, Clayton F. Ruebensaal III. That raises two questions: what happened to Ruebensaals I and II? And whether Freeman was out recruiting behind McLelland's back?

On McLelland's watch the agency lost Shoney's and Snapple. It also lost a Dr Pepper pitch to Deutsch -- the kind of account that Freeman would salivate over. Still, McLelland did win Bonefish Grill this year and Quiznos.

One is tempted to suspect that Freeman didn't have much respect for the Bonefish win. Here's his quote from when the shop won a Restaurant Advertising Award:

Despite having won this award for Wendy's ('Where's the Beef?') and Little Caesars ('Pizza! Pizza!'), this one for Bonefish Grill feels the most special. Our campaign, I believe, breaks new ground which is always the hardest thing to do.

Is he kidding? BFG is more special than his legendary Wendy's campaign? I think not.

McLelland was brought in to turn the shop into an integrated marketing agency, pushing Freeman beyond his funny TV comfort zone. By 2006 it was trying to reinvent itself again by belatedly looking for its versions of Subservient Chicken. The agency had been without a full time new business chief for a period of years until 2006.

You can see a trend here: The agency is beset with staff turnover and the desire to reinvent itself. This phase in the Freeman history can be charted back to about 2002, when the shop did a poorly received Midas campaign and lost the $50 million Staples account.

Freeman had to start pleasing shareholders in 2004 when he sold a stake to MDC. That followed an exodus of important executives in 2002 and 2004, including Eric Silver who is now ECD at BBDO.

Given the backstory, not much of a surprise that once again there's turnover in the ranks.