Phil Geier's Tips for Survival

http://adage.com/agencynews/article?article_id=140895

Mr. Geier started at McCann-Erickson in 1958 and in 2000 retired as chairman-CEO of Interpublic Group of Cos. after a 20-year run in that post. A onetime chairman of the Ad Council, he currently serves as chairman of the Geier Group, a New York-based marketing communications and venture-capital firm.

Now 74, he began working on his first book, "Survive to Thrive: Sustaining Yourself, Your Brand, and Your Business from Recession to Recovery," last spring. The 250-page tome is written in the form of a time line, interspersed with business lessons learned working with blue-chip Interpublic clients such as Coca-Cola, Nestle and L'Oréal.

Mr. Geier: This one is a much tougher recession than the others because of the fact that the financial infrastructure has been semi-destroyed. In the past that's not been the problem, it has been that consumer aspects are hurt. This is worse, and it's going to take longer to come out of. The problem now is getting the consumer to spend, because if we don't do that, the economy isn't going to come back. You've got to entice them to save and spend at the same time, which is not easy.

The holding-company operation is still valid as long as it maintains the position that they can provide administrative and financial services in the center, and at a lower cost than they would if they were in the individual agencies. But [regardless of the model] the most important thing is making sure that the right people are in place at the agencies.