NYT: Pat Fallon, the chairman of Fallon Worldwide in Minneapolis, unexpectedly fired his hand-picked senior creative executive yesterday after less than a year in the job.
Paul Silburn, who joined Fallon as executive creative director for North America in early February 2005, was dismissed along with Mark Taylor, a creative director hired from Crispin Porter by Mr. Silburn last summer. A search for a successor for Mr. Silburn is under way.
The firings came after months of turmoil at Fallon, part of the Publicis Groupe, that included the loss of major clients like BMW, Dyson vacuum cleaners and the Lee jeans division of the VF Corporation.
Although Mr. Silburn is “a brilliant creative, international talent, and a great guy,” Mr. Fallon said in a statement, “I am not satisfied with our progress.”
There are about 50 employees in the Fallon creative department in Minneapolis; the agency also has offices overseas in cities including Hong Kong, London, Singapore and Tokyo.
