Date: 10.16.2000
A BIG FAMILY WILL NEVER LET YOU WALK AROUND with a large zit,"observes John Dooner Jr., chief executive elect of Interpublic Group of Companies, about growing up with four sisters and a brother on New York's Long Island."They bring you humility."
Humility is part of Dooner's charm, which was recently rewarded when Dooner, 52, was elected to take over from Philip Geier come Jan. 1. After more than 20 years in the job Geier, 65, will step aside as chief executive but stay on as chairman.
Interpublic, the marketing communications giant, had 1999 sales of $4.5 billion and earnings of $322 million.
The quintessential adman, Dooner likes everyone:"I keep doors open, I don't shut them. I look for the good in people, which comes from my dad. He was a great cheerleader who always put his kids first--way before paying the bills."Dooner even speaks well of his competitors:"I have the greatest respect for my competition; they're huge!"
Unless he's off the record, but we can't write about that.
"It's just not appropriate to be honest,"Dooner says, in one of his more honest statements. In fact, many of his liveliest observations were retracted from the record as soon as he uttered them. Like how a big client could have avoided all its legal problems, and what he really thinks about a competitor who recently sold out.
Even so, a few comments and tidbits of humor escaped his editing. Like when we asked how he got Geier's job when he's so distinctly different from the more reticent, soft-spoken chairman."I have [embarrassing] pictures of Phil Geier,"he says, winking. We should have known we wouldn't get a straight reply.
So we will answer the question by looking at the record. Dooner has worked for Interpublic since 1973, but the spotlight fell on him in 1994 when he took over Interpublic's flagship agency, McCann-Erickson. At the time the world's largest ad agency was in a creative slump. A hands-on client guy, Dooner injected excitement and high expectations. He won huge accounts, like Motorola, Microsoft and MasterCard. In five years he tripled billings to $20 billion. Dooner came up with a concept called the McCann World Group, using the agency to offer clients more than just advertising. He made 114 acquisitions to help the agency evolve into a full-service marketing company that included public relations, research and direct-marketing specialties."Ten years ago a 30-second spot of someone washing dishes could create a brand-and-client relationship,"says Dooner."Today it wouldn't get you through the door."
Somewhere along the way Dooner applied the phrase"I will not be denied"to himself, and it stuck as a motto. Colleagues and clients give him T shirts with those words printed on them. Nina DiSesa, who heads up the creative effort in McCann's New York office, attests to the line's validity. After she had left Interpublic for a WPP unit in Chicago during the early 1990s, Dooner called her up and said,"It's time to come home, baby! "Dooner then started working on selling her husband on his plan."He was persistent, but with such charm I didn't feel stalked,"she recalls.
Dooner brought Coca-Cola home, too. In 1993 agent Michael Ovitz, then with Creative Artists Agency, took a large piece of Coke business away from McCann, a huge embarrassment. Dooner, who was once the Coke account executive, got a big piece of the Coke account back in 1999 by winning the prized client's confidence.
Dooner's iron will applied to his own diet. While reinventing the business, he says,"I decided to reinvent myself. "The result: Dooner lost 60 of his more than 250 pounds. He admits the effort didn't hurt his chances of getting the top job."It shows you can control your destiny,"he explains.
The less flashy, but consistently effective Geier is credited with building Interpublic into a many-faceted communications company. Dooner says that he would never say anything negative about Interpublic but, when pressed, he notes that WPP's Martin Sorrell has stated that the various Interpublic entities operate without much cross-fertilization."That isn't my style,"says Dooner; his strength is milking synergy out of all units.
Of course, that's easier said than done. Each Interpublic is a separate profit center, and unit performance is based on results, not congeniality.
After the megamergers of the past couple of years, three companies have emerged as the main global players: Omnicom Group, WPP and Interpublic. Dooner muses on the symmetry."We're all the same size, about $5.1 billion. And all are being led by relatively young guys."Dooner is 52, John Wren of Omnicom is 48 and Sorrell is 55. Okay, so? Taking a sip of diet Coke, and finishing off his salad, Dooner explains brightly,"Our industry is growing at 20% a year. To maintain that rate you need to double the size of your business every five years. We're with him."The truth is, in five years we will all have to be $10 billion,"he says.
"So ask John [Wren of Omnicom] how he's going to do that. Then we'll ask the midget (Sorrell of WPP) what he thinks,"says Dooner, laughing uproariously at his humor."And how am I going to do it? Well, if I don't come up with a way, I won't have a job."
The newly svelte Dooner may also need to bulk up with another acquisition. WPP and Omnicom each have three networks, or big operating agencies. In WPP's case, it's Ogilvy & Mather, Young & Rubicam (pending shareholder approval) and J. Walter Thompson. Omnicom has BBDO, DDB and TBWA. When Dooner recently combined the problematic Ammirati Puris Lintas with the Lowe Group, Interpublic lost its third web. Dooner says it's not necessary to bring in another major global footprint, but admits it's a possibility should the right client list come along.
"The reality is there's going to be a good battle going forward,"he says. As he steps into the chief executive's role come January, Dooner is on the record every day with his clients, his associates and shareholders. Will he be denied? That's the on-the-record question.
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