New World Order at Frankel
A new management plan at Frankel, Chicago, will split the company into two operating units and eliminate management layers to give executive team members day-to-day client responsibilities.
Chairman and founder Bud Frankel relinquishes his ceo title, remaining as chairman. Jim Mack is named ceo of the new Frankel division with responsibility for the core marketing and promotions business. Dave Tridle is ceo of the New Ventures division, which will explore growth opportunities, including a potential public offering.
Tridle will oversee Siren Technologies, the digital POP company, and Frankel’s non-traditional services, including direct marketing, licensing, and Internet marketing.
Dan Rose retains his title of executive vp and becomes chief operating officer, replacing Tridle.
“We’ve reorganized so that every one of our executive team has client responsibility,” says Mack. This includes three heads of client business units,
The unit heads, overseeing 25 account directors, will stay intimately involved at the client level.
“By decentralizing and minimizing layers of management, each and every client will have the benefit of top-level strategic direction through day-to-day tactical execution,” says Mack.
He said the change was necessary because Frankel increasingly deals with client senior vps and even ceos, as opposed to product promotion managers.
The three executive vice presidents heading client business units are Joanne Bell Cascio, with duties including integrated services, Pam Church, responsible for Target, Kraft, Frito-Lay and overall account service, and Colleen Fahey, with responsibility for the U.S. Postal Service account plus human resources and training.
The split helps keep the agency focused on its core business by setting up a separate unit to explore options like capital funding. “We don’t want all of our senior management focused on the IPO,” says Mack.
