Ad agency laying off 123 in Michigan after losing GM business

McCann Relationship Marketing plans to lay off 123 employees at its office in Birmingham, Mich., after losing business from key customer General Motors Co.

The marketing agency, owned by global ad giant Interpublic Group of Companies, will complete the layoffs Oct. 15, according to a WARN notice filed with the state of Michigan. That is two weeks after IPG-owned Commonwealth/McCann said it would eliminate 56 jobs in Detroit.

The layoffs come as GM transfers work away from Detroit agencies that have long had accounts with the automaker.

Impacted employees at McCann do not have bumping rights and are not represented by a union, according to the WARN notice. The agency still has work with GM. It is not clear how much its revenue is impacted.

IPG declined to comment.

GM’s pivot to out-of-town agencies has sparked criticism among some ad industry insiders and observers. Southfield-based Doner, which does ad work for Stellantis, created a $1 million fund to hire more talent amid the layoffs at its competitors.

GM declined to comment on the layoffs.

Commonwealth//McCann is expected to retain some work, including Chevrolet campaigns in several markets outside the U.S., Ad Age reported in June. The agency, which was behind Chevy’s new tagline “Together let’s drive,” has handled the bowtie brand’s ad work since 2012.

The latest cuts impact McCann's office at 360 W. Maple Road in downtown Birmingham, where McCann has about 83,000 square feet and IPG-owned Current Global has another 13,300 square feet, according to CoStar.

“IPG remains focused on delivering world-class creativity, capabilities and marketing effectiveness to General Motors and its brands across the many areas of the business that our agencies continue to serve, as well as to working with the partners being added as part of this agency model,” an IPG spokesperson told Ad Age in June.