According to an internal announcement by recently-appointed global CEO Steve Blamer, Barnes and Hollings-worth will pursue "other interests," while Bartley is believed to be retiring in January 2006.
According to Blamer, a new 'centre of excellence' structure will come into existence, reporting into ex-Latin America head Rafael de Guzman, who takes on the newly-created role of international president. "My point in eliminating the regional system is so that we can increase the autonomy of our operating offices," Blamer stated in the email. "The centres of excellence structure will help foster and facilitate our overall focus on the quality of the global creative product which is so much a part of FCB's heritage. Additionally, this new construct will result in significant cost savings."
In Asia, the centres are India, Southeast Asia and China, led by Anil Kapoor, Bhaskar Rao and Gary Tse, respectively. Europe will reportedly house four such centres, while US offices will report directly to Blamer. FCB's global creative team is working on a global repositioning of the network.
Barnes departs FCB amid revamp
FCB Asia-Pacific president and CEO Ben Barnes is departing the network, along with his European and US counterparts, Scott Hollingsworth and Gene Bartley, with the network eliminating an entire layer of senior management as part of a significant global restructuring.
