Fishlock sues The Campaign Palace over Reed Collins ECD appointment without his knowledge
Paul Fishlock, the former chairman and ECD of The Campaign Palace – who quit in February this year just weeks after the hiring of ECD Reed Collins from Leo Burnett Chicago – is suing the agency.
The first Fishlock knew of Collins’ appointment to the national ECD role was after reading the exclusive CB Blog story on January 21.
When asked for a response, a Palace spokesperson said ‘No comment’.
At the time of Fishlock’s departure, CB reported that he did not see eye to eye with
Y&R worldwide creative director Tony Granger, who hired Collins to
help resurrect The Palace’s creative reputation.
Fishlock, originally from the UK, joined the Palace in the early 90s after a stint at Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney. In 1997 he formed BMF with fellow Palace heavies Warren Brown and Matthew Melhuish where he helped build the agency until being bought out by his partners in 2004. Soon after he re-joined The Campaign Palace as chairman and ECD.
Since then, there has been a string of creative directors and creative teams hired for both Sydney and Melbourne, most leaving after relatively short stints, while the awards were few and far between – a far cry from The Palace’s creative dominance from the 70s through to the early 90s.
48 Comments
Yet another example of the meddling geniuses in New York screwing over someone locally. They haven’t got a leg to stand on – and ,unlike the Melbourne case, they wont get away with it this time.
Paul Fishlock’s a decent guy. If he actually read about his replacement on the blog, then that is nothing short of a disgrace.
Internationals screw over local talent on a daily basis, whether it’s the new senior this from the UK or the ECD that from the US.
Go paul. You’ll win
Locals screw over locals too! I heard I was being replaced from one of the people put forward for my job.
Welcome to advertising.
Paul Fishlock is a gentleman and a scholar… and a bloody talented writer and CD. He steadied the ship.
Reed is also a great guy, although a totally different kettle of fish, and still to be tested in many ways. Besides, it’s not his fault.
I know what it’s like to be shafted by an agency…. it’s not pleasant. I wish Paul F the best of luck in his suit against the powers that be.
The local CEO would have known what was going down as would have HR etc.
We all know interviews take place, then negotiations drag on and finally contracts signed before any new staff member starts in any company, within any industry. Sounds more like locals screwing him over and the Granger issue something completely separate.
Do good Paul.
This industry is truly fucked.
Paul is a gentleman, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t want this on the blog (seriously CB, this is a bit sensationalist, innit?)
But I’m glad he’s suing. Palace management handled a bunch of similar things really badly. Given time, Reed could well be the guy who does the (seemingly) impossible over there and turns the ship around, but so far all the many changes over the past few years haven’t amounted to much, and they’ve fucked an awful lot of people around.
Stick it to ’em Fishcake!
Why wait seven months?
You go to court, you lose. Even if you win.
Paul Fishlock is a top guy – with unbelievable integrity and huge loyalty to The Palace and its people – so for him to do this means he has been screwed over badly – frankly, this is DISGUSTING behaviour – c’mon, someone grow a pair and own up – Mark, did you know about this?
Surely any client of The Palace that has some integrity will not stand for this – I know Steve Rust of Panasonic certainly won’t. WPP would do very well at this point to find the culprits and deal with the matter very quickly – go Fishlock!
Bunch of whining locals. Get over yourselves. Or be the one taking those roles.
Saw article on new global y&r guy on BandT talking about how The Palace has embarrassed him – does he have ANY idea of what went down there thanks to NYC in recent times? Maybe this will give him a clue – come on wake up WPP – it rots right from the top
I worked for a place that fired the CD when he was away for his dad’s funeral. But they let him know the day he got back.
I think Paul is one of the best blokes in the industry. But I’m confused about what he’s actually suing for. He wasn’t ‘made redundant’ according to this story.. he resigned as Chairman. So it’s not unfair dismissal.. he would have remained as Chairman.
You can’t sue for having hurt feelings. I’m honestly asking.. CB?
Thank Christ someone has the balls to take these agencies to task. Most agency think that employment law does not apply to them. Hopefully this is a wakeup call to other agency’s that common law exists for all Australians even the ones who work for Agencies. So many agency employees are harassed and bullied and sent packing with a lousy 1 months pay. Half the stuff they pull is illegal get represented and standup for your rights!!!!
And just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse! The hits keep on coming…. Fish was loved by everyone, a top bloke, great sense of humour and a true gentleman.
Being replaced by another talent(debateable as that certainly remains to be seen) is all part of the game….but for him to sue the place he loves, means he really must have been screwed over…you should still treat people with respect…something that has escaped a certain somebody who is creating carnage every week it seems.
It really is just not fun anymore, and it seems a new low is reached every week, which is really saying something.
I will not go down with this ship steered by a captain who has absolutely no idea and has lost the confidence of the crew. Exits are located to the rear, life jackets are under your seats…please don’t panic and make your way towards the exit.
Paul was badly treated for sure, but they needed some new blood, which meant there wasn’t room for him. It’s a brutal industry and he has been around long enough to know how it works. The palace should have just paid him out. When it goes this way the only ones who win a re the blood sucking law talking guys.
So he’s suing for… not being kept in the loop? Not being involved in the hiring process? Bruised ego? Look, I think not telling the ECD sucks but assuming the decision was made by someone even higher than him, (Global CD, management etc) it’s not illegal, just merely rude and unthoughtful and I’m pretty sure you can’t sue for that. Oh, and bye the way Reed, welcome back to Australia. Bet those 15 years you spent away are looking pretty good about now.
10.15am, none of know what he’s actually suing them for, so why not just keep your ignorant opinion to yourself?
You can bet Paul’s contract was water tight.
He is probably suing them for breach of some contract clause like “All senior hires must be approved and agreed to by me”.
Simple.
Well, now we hear that Bonds has offically gone to another agency(opps I meant to pitch). There is no way the palace will hold onto bonds, multipile departures, other clients jumping ship and law suits.Oh, I almost forgot – A poorly shot, Rachael Taylor ad – I bet the client was less than pleased with that effort. Unless Im mistaken was that not from the much heralded new ECD?
The only missing ingredient for a perfect storm is if target goes to pitch, which by all accounts could be very soon.
If the Fishlock case happened like it reads…you have to question the judgement of management – just pay out and be done…or go to court and risk bad PR (already happened) damage brand further (already happened) lose staff multipile staff and clients (already happened). Yep – good call!
To blame NYC sounds an easy way for Palace management to wipe their hands of it. They run the company and when this went down Fishlock was the one keeping things happening with client wins and also chairman.
Granger just wanted to ensure a creative cd to replace Cameron H. as he would already have observed what the Palace had done in Melbourne re cd’s and couldn’t chance that for Sydney.
If the management can’t run their own business, how can they run their clients business?
The place is a mess. Granger should pull everyone out now and close the doors so the place can close with grace.
QC, isn’t that the whole point of the comment you’re referring to… what’s he suing for? No one knows. Learn to read. Oh, and judging by YOUR comment, learn to write, too. Ignorant, yeah, we’re all ignorant, because they haven’t given any information. Duh.
10:15
If you hire someone to do someone else’s job and you haven’t got either the courage or decency to tell them about it and they find out in a press release after the fact it is constructive dismissal. Pure and simple.
Trouble is Russel, Mark and their buddies in NY know that its unlikely any individual will go to the expense and trouble of taking WPP on legally. They have a track record of crushing anyone who attempts to stand up for their rights. I don’t fancy his chances but good on Paul for giving it a go.
Get our favourite fairweather friend while your at it, mate.
With all respect to Paul notwitthstanding- Lets not get all Paula Hanson here.
Global HQs in new York & Paris have been evicting locals and replacing them with south African, Canadian & let’s be honest Aussie castoffs with no regard to local sensitivity.
What’s good for the goose suddenly ain’t kosher for the …….
All this will be sorted out of court.
Don’t make this a oz vs new York thing.
Cause we are often the beneficiaries of the global chair swaps especially up in hong kong & Singapore.
There was a highly respected Paul Hanson in the industry, 11:54, but surely you mean Pauline Hanson. And 11:52, it’s ‘they’re’, not ‘their’ and you’re’, not ‘your’. I must say the requirement for each blogger to supply a name or pseudonym has improved the quality of comments by frightening off art directors – who clearly find the task beyond them – but there are still a few contributors who are letting the side down with their clumsiness.
So last week was pretty bad, as bad as it can get. Or so I thought.
More key people that had vision and passion for reinvigorating the Palace brand departed. Now PF, a top bloke who loved TCP is suing. Bonds pitch news is out…car crash…..how on earth do you top that?
This advice is for free….please take a moment Y&R, and think about what is happening and who is making the vital decisions that are now responsible for us slowly burning in flames infront of our hard fought and treasured clients…..Since JB left,who has been at the top and in control….how many other good people have to leave before action is taken. You have the power to put us back on a true course. Stop the madness and fire the person responsible before we are wiped out completly. In case you didn’t realise, we dont have many clients or people left to lose. Shame on you for not taking action!
2:42
Of course, I meant Pauline Hanson.
My apologies to Paul.
That’s more like it, 3:41. Poor writing is especially irksome and not just a wee bit ironic on a commentary dedicated to a very good writer.
2:42, nice
Having experienced just how tight WPP are, I can honestly say that I’ll never work for a WPP agency ever again. They are single-handedly sucking the life out of the industry by screwing every cent they can from the people who work for them. If you are currently working at a WPP agency, you’ll know what I mean.
It was a dummy spit. Full stop.
The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
So everyone’s holding Fishy up as the poster boy for great advertising.
Granted, the man can write a sentence. But he’s stuck so deep in the 80’s that you couldn’t get him out with a tricked-up DeLorean.
Fishlock was head of the Palace at a time when it was known as the worst agency in Sydney. It took Cam and Burger’s best efforts to make the place liveable again.
I like Paul. He’s an interesting guy, who’s incredibly passionate about getting people to quit smoking. He has a great if somewhat condescending sense of humour, and he’s as sharp as a tack.
But let’s not forget that the Palace gave him years – years – to turn the place around. And much as I like the man, he failed.
What WPP did was wrong. But everyone knows they’re cunts and no one respects them anyway, so no big surprises there.
I hope Paul sues them for an absolute fortune, but let’s keep some perspective here. David Droga he ain’t.
A few months ago, a tvc was posted on here with people bouncing all over the show on pogo sticks around a city. I don’t know about you guys, but it was written by the man that everyone rates so highly here. If that is a reflection of the greatness that’s been said about him, then everyone here must be pretty bad at what they do. There must be something in the water…..
Its got nothing to do with Paul’s talent. The issue is the disrespectful, bullying behaviour of WPP. Its one thing to want to change your CD – quite another to resort to this behaviour. Extremely poor form.
I’ve seen people fired because they preferred to go home to their families instead of hanging out in the pub with the boss.
People fired because their talentless partner went behind their back more often than they contributed ideas. People fired because they had too many head-butts with the suits, and people fired because they didn’t have enough.
I even know of someone being fired because when they breathed, their nostrils made this little whistling noise that everyone in the department could hear. (Just to be clear, none of these were Fishlock).
I guess my point is, if you’re lucky enough to be fired because you’re simply not the right kind of creative for that agency’s clients, you really should count your blessings. And if you’re unlucky enough to be fired for the most fickle of reasons, I’d count your blessings as well, they’re obviously a cunch of bunts.
However, all staff should be guided by management if they’re making mistakes and a one-strike-and-your-out approach is illegal.
If there are issues either with performance or relationships within the agency they need to be addressed the proper way and the employee needs to have a chance to respond accordingly, and the majority of dismissals in the industry are extremely poorly managed and I’ve seen creatives turn around overnight after a little ‘talking to’ – much cheaper than firing them.
@12:29. Is that you Mark?
Boring old toff (2.21 PM),
You don’t sound that boring to me. In fact, sounds to me like you are a decent being who knows a thing or two. There should be more boring old toffs like yourself around.
I once knew a writer who was fired because he was allergic to paper, and had to wear white cotton gloves all the time at his desk.
Of course, the fact that he often sat UNDER his desk, and his work was usually way off-brief may also have had something to do with his firing.
You get some unusual fuckers in this business. Less so now unfortunately.
I’ve heard them all. Here are some of the best.
1. You’re not a (name of agency goes here) type of person, maybe you don’t want to be a (name of agency goes here) type of person, and at your level of salary it would take too long to turn you into a (name of agency goes here) type of person.
2. (Name of CD who was too cowardly to fire me himself) says you’re not happy here and you have to go. I quite like you, but…
3. (At the Xmas party) You’re not a good fit for the agency.
4. We don’t employ cunts.
5. I think you’d be happier at a smaller agency.
6. It’s been an interesting experiment.
Very funny stuff. When you think about it, you wonder why people want to get into advertising these days. Crap money and apparently it’s getting worse.
Some other litigious little gems:
“Nobody takes a full hour to eat lunch.”
“But my contract…”
“Here’s your box.” (that would have been good to see).
A very talented junior in hospital after a scalpel accident that severed a tendon: ‘How long are you going to be, we need you back here now.’ After that he received a ‘talking to’ and walked out, nobody has heard from him since.
The agency whose traffic manager hunted creatives down in the bathroom asking how long they’d be (to be fair, they did spend a lot of time in there).
Agency that was famous for briefing everyone 4pm Friday and having a ‘check-in’ with the ECD 9am Monday. ‘Just show us where you get to’.
The CD that suddenly flipped, locked all the doors to the building and wouldn’t let anyone out (even for a cigarette) until 2am.
Or being fired on your honeymoon because they ‘found someone more experienced while you were away’.
Well done Fishlock, anyone who says ‘no more’ should be applauded.
How about this:
Combining a week’s holiday back to the UK, with a ‘chat’ about a CD gig with an agency in Singapore that had been set up by a headhunter in Sydney.
They knew I was restless because the useless ECD above me kept claiming/nicking all my award-winning work. It happens, yes?
Anyway, the headhunter promptly told the MD what I was planning on doing over their usual long liquid lunch at Mario’s – I guess because the headhunter thought I was going to get the job and could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.
Pissed as a parrot, the MD then called the hotel room I was staying in with my wife and angrily fired me over the ‘phone for having the audacity to even think of having a conversation with someone about a job somewhere else.
And that was that.
The headhunter placed me for a fee. The headhunter relocated me for a fee. The headhunter found my replacement for a fee. The headhunter relocated the replacement and his family for a fee.
About a year later – after the MD of the Sydney agency was marched out of the agency by security guards – he called me to ask for a job.
That’s the giddy game we play my friends.