Chandelier Creative Reviews

For starters, New Yorkers and others that have heard the "off the wall" negative stories about Chandelier that seem inflated, they aren't inflated and they are all real. 1. I was lied to about what my role would be at the agency. They promised senior level, full control over my work and leading projects. I got little to no control and was pushed into a creative role that was junior level. 2. They worked me until I literally broke. I pride myself on never showing fatigue and being the workhorse of my agency. From day one I was worked 90+ hours a week for a straight month until I literally broke and started weeping (for the first time in my career) in the middle of the agency because I was so tired. They responded by approving a day off that I had requested a week earlier. That’s it. No apology, change in structure, or alleviation. 3. No organization. There are no project managers and many people have mentally checked out of the agency because the culture is so bad. As a result, I had to figure out what the brand standards were, find templates, figure out the specific approval process at the agency, etc. on my own (in spite of me asking others for help and getting little to no help in response). When I did well I heard nothing, when I made a mistake due to not being informed I was yelled at. 4. The founder lashes out at his employees at the drop of a hat. When there was a big presentation I was preparing I relied on my CD to tell me the type of content that was needed and I had half a day to do what normal takes a week. When I got it done by EOD I was happy, sent it off, and left for the day. However the founder wasn’t pleased with how my manager directed me to built the presentation and proceeded to yell at me (and not my manager) via email in front of the entire team. It was my second week at the agency. 5. They don't value or respect the creative process. They gave us, on average, a day to generate campaign ideas when you normally would get two weeks or a month at any other agency. You aren't given a creative partner to bounce ideas around with, you have to copywrite, art direct, and design it all yourself. The founder prefers to have all ideas generated in large group brainstorm sessions and one time he called it a success after an hour and a half. That’s it. An entire campaign from 1.5 hours of work. 6. An empty agency culture. The place is run on fear, favoritism, and cliques. I have never felt more isolated and alone in my career. It’s driven from the founder down through the agency. 7. The founder is out of touch with reality. He cares more about talking about the expensive art he bought over the weekend or one of the new "famous" people he met more than the work.

"Style and Substance" is an agency motto here, and unfortunately there is much more of former than the latter to be found. Sleek office design, trendy employees, and the occasionally cool clients are seductive. But be warned that this agency is overall very demanding and very challenging to work for. There is little respect for employees' time, efforts, or personal lives. They will use you up, burn you out, then drop you when it suits them. The best way to succeed here is to get in with the founder, who is more of an additional obstacle to work around than a leader. From the top down, the organization is poorly handled. "Upper management" does not have the experience to create a functional workplace - as a result, one can never expect what each day has in store for them besides frustration. Resources are delegated to whatever project upper management decides to prioritize each day. The staff is already far too lean for the work required, so most days are overwhelming and inefficient. Late nights, weekends, and holidays are accepted as totally normal working hours. Added to this is the severe bottlenecking at the top, with constant drastic last minute changes directed by the founder with little time to carry them out. The culture is a bit surreal and very specific. There is an obsession with luxury and fashion that permeates throughout the agency. The "cool" factor fades quite quickly once you are fully immersed. Colleagues are talented and nice, but there is a clear social hierarchy complete with cliques very reminiscent of high school. Favoritism is rampant, stemming from the founder, and his immaturity and erratic nature are a constant disruptor and stressor in the workplace. Upper management will always be willing to cut ties whenever convenient for them. There are little to zero standardized processes in place, and the workload becomes more unmanageable and directionless. Employees are not set up to succeed, and are scolded for the inevitable mistakes and failures that follow due to lack of support. Even weekly agency check ins are inefficient as no major issues are addressed, with only short term solutions provided. There is a general acceptance of chaos and last minute rush, and the expectation that everyone adapt to such a manic work environment is unfair and toxic.