BBDO North America plans to close Troy office

New York City-based advertising agency BBDO North America said today it plans to close its Troy office at the end of January if a new contract isn't reached with Chrysler Group L.L.C. — possibly ending a relationship that began in 1944.

The move would affect 485 jobs, mostly in Troy but also at small offices in Windsor and elsewhere.

“While we remain committed to working with Chrysler and are hopeful that an agreement can be reached, we now have to assume and plan for the fact that our relationship will end when our contract does on January 26, 2010,” wrote Roy Elvove, director of corporate communications for BBDO North America.

“We have a moral obligation to give our people as much notice as possible to plan for their futures, and a commercial one to plan for the likely closure of the BBDO Detroit office. We have, therefore, today given notice to the BBDO Detroit staff that the agency will close at the end of January.”

The agency, a subsidiary of advertising giant Omnicom Group, has been in talks with the Auburn Hills-based carmaker on a new deal since Chrysler exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in June.

The news of BBDO Detroit's shuttering was delivered today and in-person by BBDO Worldwide President-CEO Andrew Robertson, who called an emergency meeting of all staffers and told them the agency needs to “plan for a life without Chrysler from February 2010,” reported Advertising Age.

BBDO Detroit staffers will get pay and benefits up through Jan. 31.

Three years ago, BBDO Detroit had an estimated 1,100 staffers. Reductions were made as the carmaker trimmed its advertising budget.

Chrysler has been piecing off some of BBDO's work to other agencies in recent months: San Francisco-based, Publicis & Hal Riney got some, Dallas-based Richards Group now has the Dodge Ram truck brand and Southfield-based GlobalHue now has the general assignment for the Jeep work.