New York-based Manifest is an agency that is into things like persona development, customer journey, mental model development, digital anthropology, immersive experiences and other heady stuff like
that. Believing that "brands are fighting for intimacy in an age of disruption," Manifest has created work for CBS, Kohl's, WebMD, Purina,Motorola, Allstate and others.
This week, the
agency has made some management shifts "designed to reenergize the leading providers of audience-centric creative." Eric Goodstadt, former EVP client services, will become President, and David Barron,
CFO, will add COO to his title.
Goodstadt joined Manifest with 20 years of agency experience in retail, financial, restaurants, pharmaceuticals, B2C, and B2B. Prior to Manifest, he served
as SVP Group Account Director at Publicis New York, where he worked with such brands as Red Lobster, Pfizer's Lipitor, NAPA Auto Parts, and Aflac Insurance.
As CFO of Manifest, David
Barron, who touts a CPA, is "building a unified financial, operational, and cultural platform." Or, you know, adding some pizzazz to the boring and mundane ritual of agency financial management.
Before Manifest, David served as CFO at McMurry/TMG. Previously he worked in corporate finance at Time Warner and served as CFO for several agencies including Publicis New York. He began his career at
Arthur Andersen.
In July of 2015, Manifest Digital and McMurry/TMG combined to create Manifest. Mouthing the usual "We Are Totally Different" mantra, Goodstadt said, “David and I
came to Manifest to build something special and to create the next generation marketing/
advertising agency. The traditional agency model is out of touch with the way today’s consumers
interact with brands. We are dedicated to generating significant customer engagement through stellar content and superior experience design, reenergized and passionate employees, and an empowered
staff in a culture of creativity and innovation.”
Lathering up the buzzword bingo even further: Barron added, “We no longer see our goal as integrating cultures. Instead, we
seek to enrich our single culture into one that encourages employee empowerment by rewarding creative passion and performance on behalf of our clients.”
advertisement
advertisement
Oy.
Manifest has 250
employees (or 350 depending upon whether you believe the Web site of the press release) with offices in New York, Chicago, DC, St. Louis and Phoenix.
The Web site footer is pretty fist
bump. It screams: "We are 350+ experience mavens. Teams of designers, technologists and editorialists that are always up for more cowbell." Yeah, it really says more cowbell. And there's an image of
the "hand horn." You know, that hand gesture you make with your index and pinky fingers up when you are jumping around the mosh pit at a metal concert? Yeah, that.
Check out their Web site... Dreadful. If only their work was half a fanciful as the sh*t they talk. Cow bell indeed. More like Cow bollocks. I shall enjoy ripping this a new arse on AdScam.
I will have to read that, George! :)