BTW I don’t even know the guy (and if you’ve never heard of him he was until recently the chief creative officer and partner in one of the hottest advertising shops in the business – Crispin Porter Bogusky). I’ve never met him and probably never will. Maybe he’s a good guy but what I really don’t like that apparently he is all about Alex. Everything I have read (yes I have a media viewpoint only) about him first moving Crispin Porter Bogusky’s creative team (think Burger King Whopper Freakout, BMW, Domino’s Pizza, Coke Zero) to Colorado from Miami, inviting people to either join him or be done (most joined him), then he ultimately bails on them by ‘retiring’ from the agency with his millions of dollars; smacks of a megalomaniac and tyrant.

Just today in Ad Age http://bit.ly/dwcqW4, an article was written on Alex’s new career as a consumer advocate. It notes that he is starting much the way Ralph Nader did 50 years ago. And we all know how loved and admired Ralph Nader has been all these years. But just as it was with CPB this is all about Alex. And we’ve seen this movie before.

Did his agency do good work while Alex was as the helm? No doubt. Do the ends justify the means? I believe that can be argued. Can you even name anyone else on the creative side of the agency? Didn’t the people on the team contribute? Of course they did and I am betting in a big way. Why no credit for them? Why don’t we know anything about the others on the team?

Recently the Colorado office of Crispin Porter (sans Bogusky) has been reduced in staff and rumors are that it may close entirely and many remaining creative folks have high-tailed it back to Miami. I cannot imagine these people don’t feel personally violated, even if they learned important things from their not-so-fearless leader.

Our agency is expanding and adding some wildly talented and experienced folks so that we can become a better agency for our clients and better support each other. As someone that has been the founder and leader of the charge for the past nearly 15 years I am so ready to cede some control by bringing in a host of people who are smarter than me in so many ways. And that’s just part of my ‘new’ job.

What I’ve found and what makes me so excited is my new role in the organization – to facilitate everyone else’s success. In my view this will enable our team (Kristie, Nancy, Carrie, Michele, Shawn, Kristina, Greg, Nader, Jessica, Dona, Melanie, David, Dany, and Larry to mention them by name) to do our very best work on behalf of our clients AND have a really good time doing it.

Don’t think for a second that we are not desirous of being named ‘Agency of the Year’ 13 or more times in the trade press. I just don’t want to be a ‘slash and burn’ leader of a clearly dysfunctional team that only has the solace of awards and accolades but no recognition outside of the group leader. You see from my perspective it’s all about creating a healthy culture and environment in which to work.

Sorry Alex if perhaps I am misunderstanding what really happened but it does not look so good from my view.

How about you – what do you think?