• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 14, 2014

New Orleans-based Peter Mayer Advertising has lost telecom provider CenturyLink and as a result has had to lay off 40 of its 200 employees. Of the changes, President Mark Mayer said: "In the lifespan of any agency, there are times when client needs generate significant growth and other times when the business contracts. Therefore, we are in the unfortunate position of having to rebalance our workforce to meet the needs of current clients. This is a painful thing to have to do. Our employees are the most talented, hardest-working and creative professionals in the industry." The exit of CenturyLink isn't really a surprise. The brand began working with a search consultant last year to determine whether or not the agency was meeting its needs.

Remember that ad agency that thought it was so cool all it needed was an email on its Web site? No? We don't blame you. To refresh your memory, it's called West, it's based in San Francisco and was founded with help from Twitter's Jack Dorsey and former Apple exec Allison Johnson. Well, it seems things aren't going all that swimmingly. We've heard unsubstantiated reports that the agency has lost a few tech clients including, possibly, Jawbone and Rdio. 

Man, it's all bad news today, isn't it? Hill Holliday had some layoffs this week as well. In a statement, Hill Holliday said: “We have recently made some necessary staffing adjustments to ensure the future success and growth of the agency. While it’s never easy to make hard decisions like this, we are confident these changes will better position us for continued success. Our industry is changing at a rapid pace, and like any responsible business we must adjust accordingly, and embrace that change as opportunity.” While no one's confirming anything, it could be the result of the Cadillac account moving to Lowe Campbell Ewald.

Google's BrandLab has landed in New York and it wants all you agencies and marketers to know. It has moved in with sister company YouTube Space. Of the move, YouTube Space head honcho Lance Podell said: “People think of YouTube as a West Coast company, but we’re here because New York is at the intersection of many creative communities -- fashion, film, big media companies and of course, Madison Avenue.” Google's BrandLab is dedicated to "evangelizing the art and science of brand building." The lab invites client teams to come collaborate with its own creatives as well as YouTube channel creators to develop creative content. 

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