Lewis Lazare looks today at the departure of another creative department mucky muck from DDB/Chicago.
Normally, I would hesitate to bring this “news” to your attention, but Lazare dangles the compensation carrot—something I find impossible to resist.
As recently as last winter, (Senior Vice President and Director of Content Production, David) Rolfe threatened to leave DDB when he was offered a top production job at JWT/New York. But Rolfe was cajoled into staying at DDB with a fatter paycheck. In an interview Tuesday, Rolfe said the bump up in salary he got at the time of the JWT offer was “minor.”
But one source familiar with developments maintains Rolfe negotiated a doubling of his salary from $400,000 to an eye-popping $800,000. DDB/Chicago leader Dana Anderson called such a figure “ludicrous” and “beyond inaccurate.”
Clearly, Lazare’s figures lack proper verification, but these are some lofty digits being bandied about. Can anyone add substance to this speculation? Is this what production heads make at large agencies? 400-800K?
