Pros
- A company willing to hire kids straight out of college, even if you have no experience For a lot of people, this might be a good opportunity to break into the advertising industry. - Planners receive OT pay At other agencies, Planners do not get OT. Because of this, KSL end up paying Planners better.
Cons
- A severe problem with culture There is a huge issue with culture. Mid-Senior staff has a superiority complex and creates poor relationships with junior staff. This creates a culture of "Us vs Them". Morale is extremely low because of this. Senior staff is cold and detached from junior staff, making work unrewarding and career advancement unclear. - Small clients / Exhausting hours Each of KSL's clients are smaller level clients who expect a level of attention that is not realistic for the amount of staff. Managers have a tendency to be yes-people, creating constant fire-drills. This creates situations where hours are extremely rough and work is unrewarding. There is little pushback from the senior staff when it comes to unrealistic or unnecessary requests. With no pushback, employees routinely work until 10pm, creating a lacking work/life balance. - A broken staffing system The newly implemented media coordinator system creates a situation that can not work long term. Junior staff hired as media coordinators work hourly with no benefits doing menial tasks. These positions were created to have cheaper labor for the agency. This is a disservice to the agency because media coordinators are paid and treated so poorly, there is little reason to stay with KSL or to produce quality work. Because of the low wages, only sub-par talent is hired for these situations, producing lackluster work. Because of the low pay, coordinators waste time and abuse all employee benefits, such as getting completely drunk at vendor outings. Because of the hierarchy, it is slightly unclear on how coordinators gain promotions to Assistant Media Planners, creating unhappiness because of unrealistic expectations. - An outrageously rampant issue with nepotism There is a serious issue with nepotism. It is clear who is fast-tracked within the agency and who is not. One clue to determine this would be to find out where the person went to high school and what their relationship with the Cohens is. - A lack of teaching for assistants/planners One interesting dynamic at KSL is the division of duties between Account Directors/Supervisors and Planners/Assistants. At KSL, the planners do not have the same responsibilities as planners do at other agencies. The planners do a lot of assistant work and are not given the opportunity to plan markets. Supervisors/Account Directors create the ideas and have Planners/Assistants grunt work. Planners are not given opportunities to create their own thought process or planning style, as everything is exactly to spec given from senior staff. This creates a situation where planners who have had the title for a year are unable to put plans together on their own.