Adweek: Havas-owned Arnold will begin laying off staff tomorrow as it prepares to lose its largest account, Volkswagen of America, which last month said it would shift its estimated $400 million account to MDC Partners’ Crispin Porter + Bogusky.
Sources said the agency would trim between 50 and 80 employees from its Boston headquarters, or 10-15 percent of the staff at that location.
VW accounted for about 10 percent of Arnold’s estimated 2004 overall revenue of $227 million.
In addition, Arnold’s Los Angeles outpost, which opened in April as a branded entertainment unit primarily serving VW, will be shuttered. That office had about five employees, but their fate is unclear.
Arnold is not defending the $40 million-plus Goodyear business, which is currently in play, but is a finalist for the $60 million LensCrafters and $50 million Liberty Mutual accounts.
