Carat Scrambles to Soothe Clients Following Email Blunder

Following an enormous gaffe last week, in which a Carat “people officer” sent a memo detailing upcoming layoffs to the entire staff rather than only to senior management, the media agency has been scrambling to manage the repercussions.

The shop sent an apology email to staff, and has contacted every one of its clients, following competitor comments that the agency was planning to be misleading in how it communicated to them about the cuts, writes Adweek.

The leaked documents (pdf) indicate that Carat planned to tell clients that the removal of people from their accounts was simply a matter of finding the right person for the job: “Mary Smith will be moving off your business. Now that we understand your business better, we are replacing her with someone whom we feel will be a better partner for you,” is how the memo says clients should be informed.

Carat CEO Sarah Fay says there was no integrity issue at all, pointing out that the documents were simply drafts to get a conversation started and saying that she hadn’t even seen them when they were inadvertently emailed. She says that the clients who were contacted last week to discuss the situation were “incredibly supportive.”

Carat, which lost several big accounts this year including Hyundai and New Line Cinema, plans to cut slightly less than 10 percent of its 750 employees around the U.S., including in Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles. It will also consolidate its national and local ad buying ops in New York. Layoffs will be completed by the end of this week.

The move is part of a $15 million restructuring that parent Aegis confirmed in August, when first-half financial results were released.