Famous agencies come now and then, and they certainly go. Recently we’ve waved goodbye to the likes of JWT, Wunderman, Y&R and Grey (mostly) courtesy of WPP and now one-time Ad Age Agency of the Decade Crispin Porter + Bogusky is going to be plain old Crispin under owner Stagwell.
Tyro creative Alex Bogusky departed a few years ago, after a brief comeback. In the early 2000s CP+B’s clients included Burger King, Domino’s, Gap and Microsoft. Bogusky’s ‘Subservient Chicken’ for Burger King went viral before virals were invented.
Bogusky even managed to move the agency to the unlikely environs of Boulder, Colorado, which probably didn’t work so well.
CP+B was bought by MDC which was then bought by Stagwell. Stagwell is still playing catch-up in the agency game with boss Mark Penn trying to combine agencies (including highly rated Anomaly and 72andSunny) with his tech companies. Shifting the likes of Publicis and Omnicom from their perches has defied many an optimistic empire builder.
Now CP+B (which still has a UK outpost) going to be plain old Crispin under CEO Maggie Malek and CCO Steve Denekas. They may well succeed of course but the days when it made the creative weather seem long gone.
