Liquid Persuaders: The Advertising Holding Company in the Age of Liquidity

208 Pages·2014·2.69 MB·English

Liquid Persuaders:
The Advertising Holding Company
in the Age of Liquidity
Veronica Millan Caceres
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Copyright © Veronica Millan Caceres 2014
All rights reserved. This publication is protected by international copyright law.
Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9915526-0-3
Printed in the Netherlands
Cover, Design and Layout: Smart Printing Solutions
English Edited by: Danielle Aaron
Dutch Edited by: Martin Loeve
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Liquid Persuaders:
The Advertising Holding Company
in the Age of Liquidity
Liquide overtuigers:
de reclame houdstermaatschappij
in het tijdperk van liquiditeit
(met een samenvatting in het Nederlands)
Proefschrift
ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor
aan de Universiteit voor Humanistiek te Utrecht
op gezag van de Rector, Prof. Dr. G.J.L.M. Lensvelt-Mulders,
ingevolge het besluit van het College voor Promoties
in het openbaar te verdedigen
op 24 maart 2014
des middags om 12:30 uur
Door
Veronica Millan Caceres
Geboren op 11 mei 1976, te Bogota, Colombien
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Promotor:
Prof. dr. Hugo Letiche, Universiteit voor Humanistiek
Co-promotor:
Dr. Geoff Lightfoot, University of Leicester
Beoordelingscommissie:
Prof. dr. Remi Jardat, ISTEC Ecole Supérieure de Commerce et Marketing, Paris
Prof. dr. Nick Rumens, Middlesex University London
Prof. dr. Slawomir Magala, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Prof. dr Alexander Maas, Universiteit voor Humanistiek
Dr. Robert Earhart, American University of Paris
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Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction 9
An Autoethnographic Story: Like Alice… 10
Introducing the Researcher 12
Introducing the Company 13
The Research; A Road Map through Liquidity 20
The Books That Could Have Been 24
Chapter 2 Methodology and Theory 27
Theoretical Grounding – Zygmunt Bauman and Modernity 28
Liquid Modernity 33
Bauman’s Practice of Sociology 37
Ethnography and Autoethnography 38
New Ethnography 42
Chapter 3 Liquid Organization: Autoethnographic Sketches 45
Introduction 46
Autoethnographic Sketch - Indirect Direct Supervision 47
Autoethnographic Sketch - A “Virtual” Failure 50
Autoethnographic Sketch - Meet the new boss. The same as the old boss. 52
Autoethnographic Sketch - The Limits of Hard Work 55
Conclusion 62
Chapter 4 Liquid Advertising 65
Modernity and the Liquefaction of the Advertising Industry 69
The First Advertising Holding Company 74
The Advertising Holding Company Phenomenon 77
The Holding Company Greats: Omnicom Group, WPP plc, and Publicis Groupe 78
Liquid Holding Companies 80
Criticism: General Holding Company Issues 82
The Future of the Advertising Holding Company 85
Conclusion 87
Chapter 5 Liquid Advertising: Autoethnographic Sketches 91
Introduction 92
Autoethnographic Sketch - Relationships Matter 93
Autoethnographic Sketch - Adaptation 98
Autoethnographic Sketch - The Damming of the Agency 104
Autoethnographic Sketch - Why Do You Stay? 110
Conclusion 113
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Chapter 6 Financialization of Advertising 115
Introduction – Liquidity Metaphor 116
Foundations of Financialization 117
Financialization Comes to Interpublic 123
Effects of Financialization on Corporate America 128
WPP plc: Born into Financialization 130
The Role of the Holding Company in the Environment of Financialization 137
WPP’s Crisis in Financialization 138
Interpublic Crisis of Financialization 140
Stock Price Conundrum 147
Conclusion: Where is Financialization Taking the Industry? 152
Chapter 7 Liquid Financialization: Autoethnographic Sketches 157
Introduction 158
Autoethnographic Sketch - Working with the “Other” 160
Autoethnographic Sketch - Working With Elizabeth 165
Autoethnographic Sketch - Travel 172
Conclusion 175
Chapter 8 Liquid Conclusion 177
The Organizational Chart 178
Industrialization of Advertising 183
A Coda to the Story of Bruce 185
An Autoethnographic Reflection on the Relevancy of This Research 190
Conclusion 194
References 195
Summary 203
Samenvatting 205
Author Biography 207
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Acknowledgements
“It has been decided that all books are the work of a single author who is timeliness and
anonymous.”
Jorge Luis Borges, Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, Ficciones
It is, without a doubt, impossible to have started this project, much less finished it, without the
help and support from my parents, Augusto Millán and Eugenia Caceres de Millán. Early on, as
a child, there was no doubt in my mind that we were a family of a scholars, creatives, and out of the
box thinkers. We were also told that it was through learning and schooling that we could excel in life.
This excelling was not about pursing wealth, although certainly that was also encouraged, but
rather that the pursuit of intellectual curiosity was a natural exercise for our minds. My mother’s
favorite saying was that if we didn’t use our minds, they would atrophy. Consequently, academia
was a space in which I could continue to learn and grow. Ultimately, if I had not been raised with
those values from my parents, I would have never undertaken this program and gleaned so much
from the structure and the pace in which it was set.
My curiosity took me to Europe to complete my Masters in Business Administration where I crossed
paths with two people who became pivotal to bringing me into the program, this experience and
the product that you, the reader, will see unfold in this book.
Hugo Letiche was a professor of mine at the Rotterdam School of Management and during his
Business Ethics class, he planted a seed in the ground when he mentioned the PhD program he was
also directing. While I did not take him up immediately on his offer – or his second one – to join the
program, I was finally convinced when I read a chapter out of one of the thesis he was advising. It is
Hugo Letiche’s brilliance, understanding of theory, and his relentless questioning that made me
realize I had a much more interesting story in my hands that I originally thought I did.
Another professor that was critically instrumental to the success of this project has been Geoff
Lightfoote. Geoff patiently sent me all the requests for journal articles and other research material
whenever I would hit him up for sources; he patiently waited for me to unfold the real story I was
trying to find in my data; and finally, when the story was out, he helped pull out of the story the
really interesting bits. His knowledge and skepticism of the financial institutions that we have today
helped me tell a more complete story of the financialization of the corporations listed in this book.
I want to thank my friend and former classmate Robert Earhart, who has also been instrumental
not only to convincing me to do the program, but to also help me navigate it despite my physical
distance – and was also brought to me through my schooling at RSM.
Another obvious acknowledgement also has to go to the company that I studied. Having
employed me for almost a decade, I have been given the time to see the waves of change that it has
undergone in that time. I cannot thank my manager enough for not even batting an eyelash when
I mentioned that I wanted to pursue my doctorate and to write exclusively about the company. He
gave me access to any resource that I could get (if it was available) and supported me without
question my pursuit of the program. It is rare to find this kind of manager and I am grateful I ended
up reporting to him. Consequently, I also want to thank all of my coworkers who gave me information,
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who talked to me about my project, who gave me ideas, who allowed me to interview them
throughout the course of this project. Without you, both in your friendship and your knowledge,
much of this book could not have been written. It is their experiences that dot this entire thesis.
Amongst my other family and friends, I also want to highlight someone who helped me
throughout the writing process. Stephen Wagner was supportive from the start and helped me
believe that I could give birth to this book. He worked as my reader, questioning not only my
language, but also my ideas, helping me be a responsible writer to my readers, as Jorge Luis Borges
would have insisted.
I want to thank my sister Catalina Millán Cáceres, for her love and support and who always asked
me how I was doing on my thesis. But more importantly, I want to thank her for my two nephews
who proved to be good distractions and also good motivators to get back on track with the writing!
There are others who also need a special mention because they were patient and understanding
and heard too much of the inner workings of my mind and this project amongst other favors: Hector
Vazquez for opening his home at a moments’ notice when I needed a couch to sleep on as well as
Gregoire Galperine and his couch (and especially for his patience), Maria Letiche, Thomas Sivo,
David Norton, Pauline Weiss, Bryan Bornhorst, Carolina Pincetic, Scott Tetzlaff and my wonderful
girlfriends: Susan Molina, Angela Castaño, Fatima Arosemena, and Maruchy Perez (who gave me the
gift of cycling to clear my head).
I also have to thank the friends that I neglected during the pursuit of this program, those friends
who still remained even after I crawled into seclusion to finish writing this project. They never
questioned my desire to pursue this and started planning for the celebrations a year before this
book was completed. I owe artwork, time, travel, and some semblance of a social life to them now
that I am done.
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“Reality is partial to symmetries and slight
anachronisms”
Jorge Luis Borges,
The South
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An Autoethnographic Story: Like Alice…
I wanted the offer and I pushed for it. I told them that I had another offer from
another company—and it was true. But I really wanted to work for this company, not
the other one. The Human Resources department eventually came back to me with an
offer of employment. I guess I had impressed them, too, because the company could
have easily declined the option and told me that I could go take the other position.
Yet here it was. And I said yes—after a little salary negotiation, of course.
The excitement of the offer wore off quickly, though, when I suddenly realized
that I knew very little about what I was getting myself into. I started to research the
company a bit more and even emailed my interviewer and the HR contact for more
information on the company and the position. However, all I was told was to fill out
a form for a corporate credit card and to call the travel agency to book my trip from
Miami to New York for my first day at headquarters. I asked again about maybe just
getting an organizational chart of the company. That at least might help me understand
where I fit into the larger group.
The answer was resoundingly, “No, we don’t have that.”
I asked again, thinking maybe HR had misunderstood. HR must have some
kind of map as to how the organization is structured. Again, the answer was “no.” I then
asked my new manager if it was possible to get one—surely if HR didn’t have one, the
department would. My new manager promised that if anything was found, it would be
sent to me. But again, nothing arrived. I was really confused at this point.
I dismissed the worry it created, though. I would start this new job in about
a month and I would surely find the missing organizational chart then. Someone would
have it— I just hadn’t found the right person yet. Surely a company of this size, history,
and reputation had to have some kind of formal orientation program, a new hire
booklet, or maybe even some classes on the business.
But it never came.
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