• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, December 1, 2016

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.”

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.