Creditors vote to liquidate The One Centre
June 2 2009, 12:27 pm | | 112 Comments
JUNE 2, 2009 UPDATE: Creditors have voted to liquidate The One Centre.
The company owed $4 million and had $7K in the bank.
EXCLUSIVE (April 28, 2009): Another sad victim of the recession: The One Centre, Sydney, founded by John Ford ten years ago, which called itself “The world’s first cross discipline branding agency”, has gone into voluntary administration, with up to 25 staffers losing their jobs.
One source says staff were informed by three men in suits who walked in yesterday afternoon, who told them to pack up their belongings.
The business was mainly based on corporate design and retail space design projects which started drying up when the recession started biting in October last year (when the shop had around 50 employees).
112 Comments
I feel sorry for their staff, but it’s interesting to see the One Centre go the same way as a couple of others lately.
Basically, shops that figured they could walk away from the core of what we do (make ads, sell stuff) and rake in easy money being quasi KPMG brand experts with all the associated wank and fluff… are being seen as a non-essential luxury.
You want to stay open in the next two years? Help your clients sell stuff, people.
You sound like an ex-employee. Your not the Chris …… that used to work here are you?
That video kind of says it all.
A cafe, hotel level food service, valet parking, a book shop, serviced apartments, whiz-bang technology everywhere, designer furniture and also some branding.
“One source says staff were informed by three men in suits who walked in yesterday afternoon, who told them to pack up their belongings.”
Never trust suits.
Very true Chris.
I too feel sorry for the staff. I’m sure they’re all decent hard-working people. However, having sat through a couple of One Centre presentations I’m in total agreement with 11:18.
I like the music in that video:
‘Ti-ti-ti-ti-tuck-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-tuck.’
Dope.
It’s really sad to see a hotel of this caliber go broke.
no, never worked there. But like 12.58 I have some first-hand experience of their offering.
when times are good, all sorts of businesses can survive on the fringes. but when times are tough, you’d better have a pretty fucking good steak to go with that sizzle.
well said 11.18
oh the irony
tell me, how did imagination save the jobs of the staff?
http://www.theonecentre.com/page/TV/Inspiration_Evenings/
oops.
Oh great more unemployed ad folk. Hope the staff got paid their entitlements.
v funny 2.12pm
The staff were paid no entitlements – in fact, they weren’t paid the last month’s wages either. Nice.
There are still a couple of job opportunities up on their website. I wouldn’t be going for them myself.
I agree with you, Chris.
I worked for a time in retail. It was all pretty basic stuff. Some of the worst ads I have ever written were some of the client’s absolute all time favourites.
Why?
Because they moved a shitload of merchandise. It was a very eye-opening and sobering experience.
If you cleared the warehouse last week of shoes it’s pretty easy to argue why you should keep your job.
Sorry to the staff, but despite visiting the site, I still don’t quite get what this agency was offering?
it was slowly getting more and more wanky – world this, ring that…
Sadly, it seems as if the staff won’t be getting paid their entitlements.
Chris, I think your POV is half right. Certainly, new age agencies have to learn how to charge like more traditional agencies, ie via ongoing retainer as opposed to on project fees. By doing this, they will be protected more in downturns and have more security to invest and divest staff without going under.
Actually, these guys are going down mainly because their biggest client lead them up the garden path and then pulled out owing them about a million bucks. Doesn’t matter what type of sausages you’re making if that happens.
But I don’t agree with your point that just because they walk away from making ads, companies are doomed. Lots of these companies can have a greater impact on sales by doing stuff other than making entertaining telly spots.
Like economies, everything is cyclical.
When things are going well, certain things become more fashionable – the esoteric, the complex.
When times turn, they go out of fashion and there is an inevitable return to basics.
You either need the courage of your convictions and avoid the fashions altogether or you need to have the genius to pick the change and adapt.
Very, very few successfully execute the latter.
I’ve always liked their website and they seemed to be working with some pretty good brands. Disappointing news..
I wish for the sake of the people who lost their jobs that this whole thing is some big reality TV set up. I had a look at their website and, well, words cannot describe how absurd it all is. Actually, no, they can…here’s some crackers…
“…The world’s first cross-discipline, cross-cultural and cross-market creative company…”
“2009 – agency trademarks the term ‘media-versal’…”
or from their glossary:
“Connective dynamics – The One Centre’s process of deep investigation, review and relational analysis of the seven key market dynamics that influence positioning development and shape the brand opportunity..”
Mother of god.
I used to work there, hope everone finds work straight away. Good luck Guys!
It was just badly positioned to weather an economic collapse, most of the clients were high end luxury brands and the downturn hit just when they were expanding….
There’ll be more to come though and last man standing is going to reap a big reward at the end.
They look like an infomercial. It doesn’t matter how often you say boutique or designer. It’s not chairs that make an agency it’s people and culture.
Yes the client list did look remarkable but…………………….dig a little deeper into those client relationships and you’ll discover that things like a total brand repositioning and blah blah blah at the personal request of one of Australia’s richest families turned out to be a brochure. Or total brand strategy and positioning for global launch was a one-off small research project. You must take 15 minutes and have a really close look at the one centre’s website. It scares the living daylights out of me that even one client could actually believe that sort of waffle. If anyone can tell me what they offered go straight to top of the class. [With genuine apologies to the staff who’ve lost their jobs and entitlements].
Well I used to work there until yesterday and i didn’t understand what was pitched on the website either. I thought it was all fluff until I sat with all the people on the designer chairs. They are all top of their game creative individuals, very down to earth, fun, passionate and hard working. And minus a month of Pay + the rest!
Coffee machine going cheap…..
And I thought the Drambuie Bogans video was the funniest thing to come out of the one centre…. but now i’ve seen the infomercial…….
I am speaking from a personal perspective as an ex-client of The One Centre. I would like to say that I was impressed with The One Centres offering, the work they produced and the dedication and passion that they put into the projects they worked on. Due to their recommendations which were implemented at a global level, their work fundamentally added value to the brand. I am very sad to hear that they are another victim of this global recession. I hope John and the team, pick themselves up, brush themselves down and reinvent themselves. Good luck guys and girls.
I’ll have a beer with you any day.
Never heard of this bunch but they look exactly like what this recession is good for – getting rid of companies who offer nothing.
Sorry for the staff who got caught in the cross fire.
Yes the rhetoric was baffling, but the smugness and schadenfreude here is really objectionable.
This wasn’t a failure of positioning. It was something similar. The failure of a couple of key clients to pay what they owed the agency.
When your clients go under you’re left exposed. So while I’m sure the jokes, the self satisfaction and the sense of “I knew they were too good to be true” will no doubt continue to pour into this thread I’d just like to remind people of the facts here.
The agency didn’t fail on the quality of its work
It didn’t fail on the fact that it had a coffee machine
It didn’t fail in the quality of the people that it employed
And it didn’t fail on the double speak of its website
It failed because its key clients failed and defaulted on payment.
And that’s something that we should ALL be wary of
Wise words Boris.
Hang on, if the business failed cos one of their clients failed what the hell were they doing for them? In our game, we make our clients succeed or else. If they fail it’s as much our responsibility as theirs. The money we earn comes from their success. That’s how they pay us. So if they can’t pay us cos they failed, then we share the responsibility.
To cut through all the guff on the site you need an up to date marketing thesaurus and a healthy imagination (and a hefty salt shaker)!
To set the record straight, everything that was written on that site and all the invented words and grand schemes came from one person and didn’t necessarily cover what was actually being produced. We actually did work! and yes it was branding and the majority of which was design based. We turned out some great work for a lot of great clients – it might not have been “total worldwide reinventertainment branding” but it was genuine and honest work and it was good.
It’s all such a shame none of us have been paid for the last month and have effectively been working for free the last few weeks (when we could have been looking for work and managing to pay rents/mortgages). Add to that clients have projects now in the air and will either have to start again (losing whatever was billed) or try and work something else out.
These situations always suck and sometimes you wish you were just retrenched months ago before all this crap – do keep an eye out for our CVs when they pass across your desk!
Boris,
Cashflow is one very important reason why a business goes belly-up.
But an inability to be sensible with outgoings is another.
Watch that infommercial again, and you tell me: despite a client or two not paying their bills, do you think the One Centre was geared-up to survive an economic downturn?
ps – unfortunately for the One Centre, the answer is a resounding ‘no.’
I worked there briefly last year before a group of us were made redundant in November – luckily I am very thankful to have got a months salary at least.
The studio, production and client service teams were all lovely people. It saddens and infuriates me to think that they didn’t even get severance pay as some had been there for years. Many of them have mortgages and families to look after.
It’s tough out there for everyone at the moment but hey I guess tomorrow is another day and life has to go on. I wish the ex- TOC staff all the best………
The one centre failed for one reason only…..
The spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in a downturn on interior decoration and water features. Clients not paying their bills and the GEC were the least of that agency’s problems.
LMAO about the imagination comment – I was regrettably in attendance and it was like watching an accident happen in slow motion.
The Once Centre.
Brad, way too simplistic and one dimensional.
Brad – are you living under a rock? We’re all bearing a domino like effect of the global meltdown – we’re hurting cos our clients are hurting cos their suppliers or producers; or delivery network or distribution channels are collapsing. I freelance & before joining the OC late last year many of my client’s projects were impacted due to someone in the supply chain simply being unable to deliver to deadline (And i’m talking suppliers the likes of Boeing). It’s unprecedented times for us & our clients & our problem runs deeper than a water feature.
The international client that let OC down was enormous; after a ridiculously extravagant international November launch (attended by everyone from ex presidents to Oprah) the client virtually stopped paying, with international news of fraudulent staff amongst other things coming to air in Jan. They have sent The OC to the floor.
I get the OC offering was 360 brand (not advertising). Theirbrand work was world class. They can be proud of that.
I’m genuinely gutted to hear this news & wish John & all the staff well.
Go onto the website and have a look at the our story video, dreaming about a big white building on a hill by the sea, and not paying attention to the bottom line – or responsibilities to the welfare of staff can only have one sad conclusion i’m afraid. Sometimes it’s not imagination, but consideration that will save the day.
Well said Boris.
What a load of self satisfying wank, I’ve worked with TOC for the past 4 yrs as an external consultant, they are a group of professional, hard-working and dedicated people. The fact that as a result of this people may lose houses, miss rental payments and find themselves up to their eyes in debt is an absolute disaster.
It’s all funny when it’s happening to someone else but stop and consider how far you would travel if your role suddenly ceased to exist. I wish all the guys at TOC good luck, I will be keeping my eyes and ears out for work for them.
As for the haters, I’m hoping that as you get into ur tidy little convertible tonight with your fifth soy latte skim cap in hand that you accidentally hit the accelerator and douse your pants in a whole heap of hot brown shit, go and play in the traffic!
I feel sorry for any of the good people at The One Centre, however I do wonder at the validity of some of these peripheral agencies who promise the world but aren’t really equipped to deliver much.
I’ve had a couple of experiences in working alongside The One Centre, and found most of what they did to be full guesswork, puffery and a fair amount of smoke and mirrors to hide their lack of genuine strategic thinking.
Their relationship shtick was strong and one client seemed to initially buy into their process, until she realised that they were never going to get to the point and they couldn’t support any of their assertions.
When their first invoice arrived after three poorly run workshops and a shallow presentation, the client fired them and we ended up throwing all of their work away.
GP – spot on with your comments. I think the TOC, mainly as a result of some on the management team, were overly concerned with the image of the agency – all surface, little substance. Everything was completely controlled – to an almost pathological level – that it was stifling. I have to question the financial management within the agency – some account directors were completely incompetent with the way they ran projects. That’s not to say that there weren’t some genuinely talented people there, and like cream, they will rise to the top. I just hope the smooth talkers are held accountable. Good luck TOC’rs.
This is the best thread ever….
Well I didn’t realise that the loss of The One Centre would create such a stir in Ad-land. Being one of their “cross discipline” creative’s myself I have rather a mixed view…. Yes our decline was to some extent predictable and inevitable given the positioning of the agency and the economic times (the idea of being a luxury brand as an agency was surely a novel one). Being leveraged for growth (to pay for our extravagant surrounds etc) and then having a collapsing client base and no juicy client retainers didn’t really help either.
But I have to say having worked there for a couple of years until about 6 months ago I was willing to tolerate a certain amount of cultish weirdness as I truly believed that we were doing innovative and valuable work, unfortunately the weirdness took over and spin was spun to far (as anyone who attended our last and fittingly final ‘inspiration evening will attest to). However, I am happy to say that I bought into the whole branding model (complete with wank speak and all), as I could, and still can see a place in the market for a holistic one stop shop where clients can strategically align their brand with both their business objectives with their role in consumers lives (across more touch points than just glossy print ad’s and TV spots… one could argue that clients should do this themselves but that’s the nature of the game).
I’m not really that mad with the agency… I guess because I could see it coming anyway and was just too tardy in getting my act together before the boat went down…I could do with a life-raft though.
9:17. Places like M&C, BMF, DDB and any number of good agencies have been doing the ‘holistic one stop thing’ for years. It’s nothing new. Smart agencies have been offering everything from ads to store layout to design to strategy to research for years. You talk about ‘aligning the brand and business objectives with their role in consumers lives’ as if its a revelation. That’s what good agencies have always done for a living! . Today you say ‘align’, yesterday we said synergy. You describe yourself as a ‘cross discipline’ creative as if creatives have never been skilled across different marketing disciplines before. Well you’re wrong. ITS NOTHING NEW! The ‘weirdness’ you refer is simply people at TOC actually believing they were doing something new and ‘innovative’. Let me assure you they weren’t. I had to sit through some OC presentations. They were just marketing 101 wrapped up as the emperor’s new clothes; or to use your own description ‘wank speak’. There is absolutely NOTHING TOC did that good agencies don’t do already. And yes, I do feel sorry for the honest, hard-working TOC people who’ve lost their jobs. But, as an earlier blogger said, the future is there for agencies ‘who help their clients sell stuff’ rather than those who just talk about helping their clients sell stuff.
Hey Ted (April 28 @ 10.24) – you must have heard of them, they took a chunk of Jetstar off you.
Does the website, technobabble and marketing nonsense not remind anyone else – eerily and perhaps fittingly – of just about every single .com in late ’99?
Not that this needs to be said.. but the earlier brad is not the brad that worked there all of last year.
All the best to former staff. You all deserve better and should look forward to bigger and better things.
I really didn’t see it coming… oh wait, yes I did.
I’m with Boris and Kim!
I am a supplier of TOC and I, like many of the employees and suppliers of TOC, am owed money. I do not however feel that the closure of this business is a result of bad business practises or unprofessionalism.
The advertising industry has had it good for a long time. TOC isn’t the first victim of this economic downturn and they won’t be the last. It doesn’t matter how creative, clever or professional you are, if your multi million dollar client goes down there is a good chance that you, or at least some of your staff will go with it.
It is awful news and I feel really sorry for everyone involved, the staff and the founders. I wish them all the best of luck.
April 29th, 9:17 – you almost had me until “holistic”. Is there a more common alarm for bullsh*t than “holistic” when agency people start spouting forth? Your comments suggest that TOC was offering something that mainstream agencies don’t provide. Look around and you’ll find yourself surprisingly mistaken.
April 29th, 11:41 – you’ve hit the nail on the head. Any “good” agency in Australia has been offering a coimplete package for quite some time and the self-proclaimed “nimble” specialists like The One Centre, Naked et al don’t seem to have realised that they’re not as special as they would have us believe.
I too had to sit through some of TOC’s “marketing 101 wrapped up as the emperor’s new clothes” and as much as I feel incredibly sorry for any of the genuinely good people who might have worked there, it really was a load of …
so much anger…
It’s kinda funny that the people that didn’t work there seem to be getting a lot more worked up than the people that did. Dead giveaway to the negativity of the detractors on this thread.
At what point did working on fantastic brands become only the work of an agency? The sooner that clients stand up & work hand in hand with an agency to understand them selves & what they want to offer will a truely successful project reach the market.
A client who points the finger & blames a client perhaps hasn’t been true to them selves during the process & project. A relationship & trust between a client & agency need to be built & earned but it’s a two way street.
Yes john wanted to take over the world & there was a lot of excess fluff about but no-one deserves this. Anyone who actual gets joy from such an event should take a good hard look at them selves.
I know a staff member from TOC & I really feel for him & his family. Who’s going to pay their rent & feed their little boy? Are you still laughing?
The sooner all agencies get over their own ego the better it will be for everyone.
Just wanted to say what a privilege it has been to work with such a talented, down to earth, great bunch of people. We did stuff that I would never have done at any other agency all in the one place.
john and TOC team were and are true visionary, creative, intelligent, hardworking people who gave 100% of themselves. They had a dream which inspired…..around the world.
All the critics should take a good, hard look at themselves
7:46. Everyone feels sorry for all those at TOC who’ve lost their jobs and face the possibility of genuine financial hardship. Everyone understands when we work hand in hand with our clients we all win; but that isn’t the point being made on the blogs you obviously interpret as being personal attacks on TOC and their staff.
The point is this – when businesses like TOC claim, as TOC has, to be ‘the world’s first cross discipline branding agency’ and ‘the world’s first mediaversal creative agency’ its not unreasonable to expect an offering that is unique, but for the most part they aren’t.
I don’t think too many people are taking joy from their demise. I’m certainly not.
But I think we would all do ourselves a favour by thinking about WHY they had to go into liquidation, forcing good hard-working people onto the street without their entitlements.
You can point to a client not paying its bills, but many agencies have had that happen to them. You can point to the recession, but we’re all living with that. Or you can think like a grown-up and learn from the One Centre, and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes.
It’s ok to have a grand vision, but you also need to be realistic about keeping your doors open. I’ll bet not many of you are aware of the sort of work a Droga5 in NYC does to pay the bills: hint, it’s not The Great Schlep or the other stuff that makes them famous.
And it’s the same story for every other agency that I’m sure you admire. Because the fact is, you can’t do great work if you can’t keep your doors open.
Business is more about hard-headed pragmatism than it is about grand visions for a brave new world. And EVERY successful business, even the ones that actually do manage to change the game, understands this and cuts their cloth accordingly.
Learn from the One Centre and agencies of their ilk, guys. If you focus on the substance of what you do, work fucking hard, and remain grounded in your outlook, you’ll do ok.
And my final piece of advice: If you can’t explain to your Mum just exactly what it is you or your agency do, chances are you do nothing of substance and you’ll be the first to get the chop in a downturn.
I am not a member of the advertising community but as a member of the human race I am staggered that so called professionals can kick the shit out of each other when they’re down. Maybe it’s human nature but I am truly blown away.
I’m a supplier of the One Centre and am owed a fairly heavy 5 figure sum, which ain’t much fun in these times.
To be honest, I think there are elements of truth in what most people say above. I realise that the point of these blogs is to take a strong position but the reality is that it’s all shades of grey.
There was some very very smart people there. The business was run naively but that contributed to some of it’s success as well as it’s downfall. The holisitic model and offering was both occasionally effective, certainly compelling for some clients but also completely full of the proverbial – some of the jargon is just frightening.
Lastly, they were without doubt let down by a client but…….they were the worst client I ever had. Every bill was paid late, most were queried and stalled for no apparent reason and ultimately their loyal staff and quite a few suppliers are staring down the barrel of debt because of the way the business was run.
For those who don’t know, there is a creditors meeting next Thursday. Never been to one before. I wonder whether the management will be there?
Some of the greatest minds I have ever worked with who deeply believed in the power of branding not only to achieve business objectives but to delight and entertain. Sure we can all make ads that ‘sell shit’ but at TOC I think you actually got a greater kick out of what you were offering the world and creating.
(it did go a little bit psycho-babble cultish though)
Two Centre, anybody?
“offering the world”
fuck me sideways. seriously. Who ran this place – Bono?
can’t have craig have the last word. cause as funny as his comment is. this is serious
A guy with an ego the size of Bono…
Advertising be damned. Fuck you you all, from the greatest rock & roll band the world has ever seen. I rock.
Surrounded by a management team with egos just as big
Obviously not much news from the outside world has been getting through to Jonestown. So,once more for the benefit of 2:00 May 1.
Agencies have been doing much more than ‘make ads that sell shit’ for years. And the mistake ‘psycho-babble cultish’ businesses [your description, not mine] make is they keep on comparing their offering with agencies of a decade or more ago.
I remember the story of a young intern being taken to an opening of a “Studio” and being clensed in the holey spirit by a bunch of phsyco babbling penticostyls.
It was her own damn fault for travelling to the north shore though…
Aah the memories…
Mark
lern 2 spel chaamp
Guys, lets all Chill out.. here’s the thing, competition ( as wierd as they sound) is actually a good thing, it allows more expression and creativity, and if their are only a few agencies out their then the same work will be delivered by the same people all the time…
I dont really understand what they do either, but it is another option for the clients and in an environment where no one is taking many chances – its a good thing to have options. Maybe they should have demonstarted more of what their key services are and maybe they would have got more clients I dunno..
Its amazes me that a company of this size didn’t take out income insurance, you can snazzy phrases in the world but if you dont have a basic business structure in place your gone..
Best of luck to all the staff..
I don’t doubt for a moment the creative brilliance that operated from the One Center.
You just have to look at their client profile internationally.
However, I DO question the so called business management advice that these guys were receiving from their advisors.
A sobering thought for all.
Best of luck to all who were and are so creative.
Well I’m glad to know that we are responsible for the success or failure of our clients… and that external forces can be trampled over Boris.
I shall call General Motors immediately and tell them that all they need is a new agency (preferably one in which you are employed) and that as a result their worries are over.
Better still I shall call the rubber company who provides the raw materials to the tyre supplies to GM and tell them that they no longer have to lay off 80% of their workerforce as you have finally solved the business issues at hand.
Brad – people let you off the hook very lightly when they said that you were being simplistic, you were being deliberately (I hope) simple minded.
Agencies are there to help create, sustain and redirect demand. When the global economy is in the toilet, the job lines are growing by 100,000s a month, people are losing their homes in record numbers and the banks look like going under the agency is not what’s going to turn things around, for the vast majority of clients.
I’ve been on both sides of the client / agency relationship – at better clients than you’ll ever work with and at agencies that wouldn’t let you through the door and ultimately the agency is a supplier. At the best clients the agency is an important supplier but their contribution tends to be marginal. Very few campaigns each year bring in the kind of revenue that a new Union Contract negotiation could, or a change in retirement funding tax laws or even the move of a factory to China or Vietnam. So please, be proud of what you do, but don’t overestimate your importance and influence —> it’s such a schoolboy error.
I don’t know the One Centre model very well but it seems to me that the mistake here if any were made was that they didn’t change their revenue model even as they changed their overhead model.
What do I mean?
When the company started it worked project to project. No long term clients. No long term contracts. To compensate for that they employed their people on a similar project to project concept. You were affiliated to the company but you were only brought in and only paid when you were needed. So staff was matched to billing – and overheads were tiny.
Over time the company took on more and more staff. They took on a building. They expanded it. They took on more staff. The overhead increased.
What they didn’t change was the billing model. They still worked project to project, without long term clients and without a fixed fee based revenue. This meant chasing new work all of the time… which they did successfully. But it also meant that they were vulnerable to a situation where a couple of clients didn’t come through with the cash as promised. This seems to have been what happened recently (though I’m not at the company and don’t know)
If there’s anything to be learned from the malady (and the semi-recent closing of near neighbor ?What If!) it’s that a project to project, fee to fee based model is okay if you maintain a flexible relationship with staff and a low overhead… but once you start investing in permanent people, you need some fixed income and relationship too.
Okay, said, Boris out…
Just read that Chrysler owed BBDO $58m by the time they went into Bankruptcy…
Under Brad’s rule that Bankruptcy was BBDO’s shared responsibility
Perhaps they should throw in some more cash – reparations, so to speak
Wonder what it’ll mean for BBDO?
I am questioning the Banks, PWC etc of this world who are supposed to be experts in business advice.
NOT the creative brilliance that operated at the One Center.
Watch out!
Bloody Hell.
I am a former One Centre employee. And a couple of things to point out:
The coffee machine, expensive chairs, water features, and fancy renovations were all paid for (in cash) well before the crisis hit. Also – we had to pay for the coffee – another income stream for the Agency. CFO’s take note…
Yes, there are a lot of coined terms that are a little laughable, and yes – we laughed about them internally as well. A slight correction to the earlier posts – TOC was not an Ad Agency that moved to a “Mediaversal” branding Agency – they were a Strategic Branding Agency that moved into advertising. And as someone who was there when it happened, it was one of the most enjoyable and professional transitions I have ever seen.
Ted – it wasn’t just JetStar they took a chunk off you either, you’ll probably recall a pretty large optical retailer that left you for them as well.
There was a lot of things that TOC did differently – and it was amazing to watch, amazing to be a part of, and amazing to see the response to now. They chose to be different. They chose to focus on an offering that was, and is currently not being taken seriously in Australia – and are now being lampooned by it. Only because the GLOBAL downturn affected them, and then had a couple of big Clients go down owing them. Arguably Income Protection Insurance could have saved them – who knows. I bet there are a lot of people right now they had taken that kind of insurance out also.
I have a lot of friends who are now looking for work, who quite frankly shouldn’t be – as individuals, they were a group of professional, hard working and incredibly talented people. As an Agency, they were amazing.
Yep – suppliers were put under the microscope, and sometimes the bunsen burner. Sometimes that extracted just that little bit of extra profit – sometimes it just pissed people off. But not once did they fail to deliver because of it.
I’ve worked in a number of agencies before, and subsequently to my time at the One Centre, and I never have, and never will find a place like it again. And that is a crying shame.
Bland, unimaginative Agencies rejoice, yet another colourful, entrepreneurial challenger has fallen by the wayside because of a great vision that was not prepared for a global meltdown. But workers inside those Agencies beware – there is now someone better than you looking for a job…
John – genius or madman, I’ll never quite know, but the world has not seen the last of you. Best of luck to everyone from here on in…
I was a supplier for TOC for a few years, and found their creative team to be a smart and talented bunch of people, with very little egos to contend with. Certainly a much smarter bunch of people than ive found at many other agencies.
Whatever it is you want to describe TOC as… they produced good work. Im sure John’s seen better times, and could have managed the last year better, but he certainly had a vision. Whether he was able to convey his vision to others well is debatable. But so many agencies out there are like vanilla.
Poor management of resources and future risk, plus one bad debtor (The One Debtor anyone?) is what brought them down. But they survived longer than most.
What this i hear about them trying to sell the business now though?
http://www.bandt.com.au/news/70/0C060870.asp
Did this amazing agency do any work that would qualify as amazing? Or were they just amazing, in the sense that they were amazing to work for, with an amazing vibe and an amazing sense of self-confidence?
Just wondering.
the one centre seemed more like a glorified cafe where you could browse the net on designer macs and when you got sick of that just go and watch the flat screen tv’s, you have to do work if you want to stay in businesss.
All they did was eat all day, lazy bastards
I heard they liked to rub jelly on their legs, the whole bang lot of em!
Amazing 🙂 cheap tv’s anyone….
What a bunch of miserable pessimistic lot you are…sure they might have failed, sure I know of ex-clients were not happy with their work and sure, it’s very sad for the staff.
But what I notice from all of these comments is;
1. you all clearly have too much time on your hands and,
2. you seem unable to dare to dream!!!
Now why don’t y’all go back to work before you too are on the scrap heap off over inflated egos and sense of self worth!!!!!
You can come and work for us any time. The polish you put on that turd was amazing. Shame you had to let so many good people down.
I went to an evening talk at TOC last year. He spoke in commanding fashion about TOC and how they were all (shared dream, culty type homage to him thing) heading towards a white mansion built on a cliff by the sea where clients could get everything they ever desired. It was incredible, actually incredible and uncredible as he then went on to praise the book The Experience Economy as if it were written that year and no one but he had read it. And then there was that ad……’Old models don’t work’. I have never known an agency spend so much on itself before. Nice model.
I only a stayed as long as i did because of the free licorice bullets…..
If any former employee or client of The One Centre wants to talk to me about its collapse I am writing a report for my paper. I am happy to hear from anyone – on or off the record. Regards Julian Lee 9282 2510 or 0422 343086
Its all here today, minus the froth, you can add that yourself.
http://www.graysonline.com.au/catalogue.asp?SALE_ID=52714&SALE_TYPE=THUMB
bit of Blackadder for you all:
Darling: (looks in the mug) Ah, cappucino! Have you got any of that brown
stuff you sprinkle on the top?
Baldrick: Well, I’m sure I could m–
Edmund: No, no!
This is a tragic loss. We all as clients, creative staff and innovative thinkers need concepts like The One Centre. For it to perish is to see regression into the past and right now the world needs vision to open the doors of the future. As a retired creative director I missed the One Centre opportunity but in the days I sat at my then latest and greatest Apple Mac I too dreamed of a hub where everything The One Centre incubated could become a possibility. Grieve for the people who made it happen and hope they will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes because only the best comes out of we creatives when our environments – mentally and physically nurture innovation and thinking outside the square. Clients are rewarded for their trust and investment by achieving results that the opening of new windows blowing in copious fresh air (thinking) manifests. Their is no shame in going down because even the mightiest fall. But shame on those who now want to trample the fruits this company planted and harvested. Shame on anyone who’s mind is closed to “what if” and “possibilities” because you are the draconian that suffocate imagination.
All of the beautiful fitout is up for sale on Grays Online.
http://www.graysonline.com.au/sale.asp?SALE_ID=52714
We scored some cheap 23 inch apples and chairs and plates ! Thanks one!
I heard http://www.bullseye.com.au are going the same way and just laid off 15 staff
its tough out there for so called “ego agencies”
sad for the staff, but competent proffesionals are never looking for work ,work seems to find them especially in the advertising industry ,DOES ANY BODY KNOW THE BRAND OR WHERE THE CREAM LOUNGES WHERE PURCHASED FROM,I WANT ONE…….IF I CAN AFFORD
exactly its PEOPLE that make an agency- not fancy furniture and coffee machines
You ad people really are a breed unto yourselves, aren’t you?
How long before you all wake up and realise you’re about to be Tivo’d out of existence and then your self important ass kissing shenanigans will hopefully go the way of the Dodo? You’re all so fucking self absorbed and scared shitless but you push out your chest, do some lines in the dunnies and come out swinging, like a Granny.
Sorry to the people that lost their jobs, but maybe now they can get a job in a more noble profession instead of working in an industry that is basically the skid marks on the underwear of society.
Fuckers. I hate you all.
TIVo, now there’s a great brand…
a closed chapter ………..
Ha, Ha, Ha eat my shorts you bitter hack!!! Meanwhile we’ll keep having all the fun and all the chicks you sad bastard!
1.11pm:
You must be a deeply unhappy person.
Someone needs a hug.
1:11 PM,
I’m sorry I said you weren’t cut out for the industry when you showed me your book. I really truly am. Maybe now you can move on and blog on some of the more noble industry blogs, like law or finance.
I am reading through these comments and seeing that a lot of the negativity and criticism seems to be coming from people with salaries. You can go out of business because ONE client defaults. You should stop being so simplistic. I worked with One Centre who had Saudi clients who are notoriously slow payers. This single factor alone could have sunk them. I’m not saying I know the cause but it shows your comfort level in your salaried desk jobs when you try and dissect what they were offering as an explanation of why they went under.
Now working with a few Once Centre staff… they really are all talk and no practicality. Pull your heads out of the clouds and start being realistic. Dreams alone are not enough, less talk and more effective work please.
their drambuie campaign was pretty out there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebX1HhPLoMY
Reply to: Lorraine Cook 12.35 pm
“…rise like a Phoenix from the ashes”
Are you a Scientologist?
Yep, now it all makes sense…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebX1HhPLoMY
Eat My Shorts:
I love you and want to have your babies.
Rebecca,
you’re right, it is possible to go out of business off the back of one bad client who defaults.
However, it’s hard to feel sympathy for the One Centre in this instance, given they didn’t pay their staff but worked them til the last possible moment, held back paying their super for more than 3 months and made staff pay for job expenses on their credit cards when they knew there was no money in the bank. I as a supplier had been owed a significant five figure sum by them since last July and was consistently lied to and ignored on the 20+ times I chased payment.
If you were in the creditors meeting you would have heard many similar stories.
The best possible description of how the business was run is naive. Many employees and suppliers have less charitable words to describe the One Centre experience over the past year.
So yes, it is possible to go out of business based on being let down by one client or company. I just hope none go out of business/bankrupt off their treatment by the One Centre.
Lorraine Cook should read 6:50’s comments for a reality check.
Interesting that when you look at the Drambuie link on you tube its got 1,700 or so links. On the other hand if you type “Gummy Bear Song” into you tube and count down all the showings of this cinematic masterpiece you will discover its had around 100 million or more views. Now what does this tell us? Clearly the Gummy Bear song has driven the One Centre out of business and there is a new model.
Gummy Bear versus White Trash Drambuie film that no-one’s ever seen or heard of? Hmm. I’m sorry people lost their jobs and for the knock on effect that will have on their families and places they spend their money, however if I was a client I know which bear i’d rather have drinking my drambuie, using my phone or wearing my nike’s.
The average film posted by the average 15 year old in their average bedroom in Uzbekistan these days will get 50 or 60 thousand views. It’s small you tube beer. The fact that an agency employing many people to make a viral film like that can’t get it right, tells us that the new model is about genuine media that isn’t contrived or thought up by people paid to do it.
In case this thread makes anyone angry I have deflected that anger already by calling myself fucktard so you don’t have to abuse me, I had a terrible childhood and I’ve had all the abuse I can take in one lifetime. I now only have nice thoughts and nice angels and bunnies surrounding me and you can’t hurt me.
If anyone wants to send me a nice message or point me in the direction of something pretty on you-tube to flitter my bats at like say, kittens or animated origami carrots or the such then please email me privately
info@leotard.com
this is such a beautiful world. we should all learn to love each other and it should be pretty. and there should be bunnies.
Hey Fucktard,
You must have missed this in your search:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=331023
Probably had trouble typing a search into google with your fat gummy bear fists…..
PLEASE !!!! why do we need to express our anger on this blog for the failure of THE ONE CENtRE they FAILED !!!!!!!!!!!!!! one reason for that they didnt deliver and over spent on luxuries (but a bonus for me) as i could only dream as they did … did they need all that to promote business or did they just WANT as we all d0 but know our limitiations i think we should let it go they have paid and the good will rise again while the rest will continue to ONLY dream…………….
At the end of the day they were crap. I used them for a project and they ignored a vast majority of my emails throughout the project which spelled out what I, the client, was looking for. Needless to say, they didn’t deliver and we didn’t use them again. What’s more they were very surprised when we delivered the news that we wouldn’t be using their services again.
I just stumbled across this forum by accident having googled John Ford. I realise the TOC is old news, however what’s interesting is that the clock on economic times has just about completed a 360′ turn since The One Centre went down. Now we’re about to see many many job losses in this industry and 95% of the PAYE wankers that have posted on this site will looking for a job very soon. Spineless individuals that stand behind the referred power of brands and people like John Ford that create value and employ others incapable of doing anything other than offering an opinion. You are all the majority, worthless, repeatable and easily replaceable.
I’ve made millions from the work generated by the TOC and although I must admit to finding the bills very taxing at times believe the methodology and POD was worth ever cent.
FYI, I was searching for John Ford as we have a global project and wanted his buy-in. I have just found an old mobile number and left a message.
What a sad world you guys / girls work in. Apologies for the few positive / commercial individuals that have made intelligent comments, however in my view you’re all overpaid junior execs about to learn a valuable lesson on the word KARMA.