Ogilvy Stands by Work With Border Enforcement -- WSJ
25 July 2019 - 5:02PM
Dow Jones News
By Alexandra Bruell
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 25, 2019).
WPP PLC's Ogilvy won't quit working for U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, the advertising agency said in an internal memo
responding to backlash over the account.
"Some of you feel strongly that we should stop working for CBP,"
Ogilvy Chief Executive John Seifert said to employees in the memo,
sent this afternoon. "While I do understand and appreciate this
point of view, I have concluded that our work for CBP is genuinely
intended to improve the quality of this government agency's public
services. And we should continue to do all we can to support this
objective."
The agency's relationship with CBP has generated criticism from
some employees and advocates since it became public late last
month. At least one client also has expressed concerns, according
to a person familiar with the matter.
The CBP has been one of the agencies charged with responding to
the flow of adults and children into the U.S. from Guatemala,
Honduras and El Salvador, and has come under fire for dire
conditions in the facilities that hold them.
In his memo, Mr. Seifert described the agency's CBP work as
limited. "Our assignment focuses exclusively on hiring better and
more diverse applicants across the CBP organization; it does not
include any work related to CBP detention operations," he
wrote.
He also positioned the account as part of an important portfolio
of government assignments in the agency's Washington, D.C., office.
"This practice is an important part of the broader work Ogilvy has
done with governments and municipalities since our founding:
engaging with people, businesses, and public sector organizations
around a range of societal issues -- from public health emergencies
and public safety to volunteerism, tourism, and beyond," he
wrote.
The memo follows a meeting between Mr. Seifert and employees on
July 9. "I've worked here for nine years and I've never not been
proud until Monday to come to work," one employee told him during
that meeting, according to a transcript published by BuzzFeed
News.
Mr. Seifert said during the meeting that he could relate to
concerned employees on a personal level, describing the human
situation at the southern border as "horrific" and "abhorrent,"
according to the transcript. He also told employees that his first
wife was Mexican-American, and both of his sons are 50% Mexican,
according to the transcript.
CBP said it hired Ogilvy to facilitate the development and
introduction of a "new recruitment brand" to help the agency meet
pressing recruiting demands.
"This contract was structured so the new recruitment brand and
marketing program would be developed as efficiently as possible
while still resonating with qualified recruits, ultimately
increasing applications for CBP front-line careers," a CBP
spokeswoman said in a statement.
Ogilvy's CBP contract is valued at more than $12 million, but is
expected to generate only around $1 million in annual fees for the
agency, according to the person familiar with the matter. The
remainder is allocated to costs such as production and
research.
News of the shop's relationship with CBP began spreading online
after a report on the website Sludge included Ogilvy on the ad
firm's list of its contractors. Employee unease and one staffer's
email exchange with Mr. Seifert was reported by Adweek. The Refugee
and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, also known
as Raices, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides legal services to
immigrants, criticized Ogilvy for work it described as "state
propaganda."
Ad agencies often weigh whether to take on business that
employees or clients might consider controversial. But agencies
don't always turn away from lucrative -- and potentially polarizing
-- accounts.
In the transcript of his meeting, Mr. Seifert told employees
that Ogilvy has supported BP PLC through the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill, and worked for clients which included tobacco companies and
Coca-Cola Co., which produces sugary drinks that some blame for
rising levels of obesity.
"There's almost no client who walks a perfect line of doing
nothing but good for the world. So we make this choice every day,"
he said.
Write to Alexandra Bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 25, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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