We All Fall Down (23 page)

Hugh wondered why he was being told this, but decided to try and look as if he found what Russell was saying particularly enlightening and something that he'd never suspected.

‘I'm telling you this because we're going to have to do some belt-tightening. The good years are coming to an end, if they haven't already done so. As usual, when things get tough, the first casualty is our clients' advertising budgets. That's the way it's always been; that's the way it always will be.'

Hugh nodded, somewhat bewildered by the sighting of this rare phenomenon: Russell Grant, the businessman. He was also worried: was he about to be added to the long list of redundancies?

‘We're going to have to run leaner and meaner.'

Hugh wondered how such a thing would be possible. Everyone in the agency was already doing the work of two people, and putting in unbelievable, as well as unreasonable, hours. As for staff salaries, they'd been frozen for as long as anyone could remember. The only place savings could be made, so far as Hugh knew, was at management level. Those on the board were still paying themselves generous bonuses at the end of each financial year, and the possibility of their salaries having been frozen was unlikely, almost as unlikely as Russell believing in Orwell's dictum that no one should earn ten per cent more than anyone else.

The managing director stood up behind his desk, and regarded Hugh impassively. ‘Anyone not giving one hundred and twenty per cent will be shown the door.' It was a proclamation, a drawing of lines in the sand, a setting of boundaries. There was absolute silence in the office. ‘This is not something I say lightly. I have no option.'

Hugh worked every hour God gave him for the agency, so surely Russell couldn't be talking about him? No, he was being paranoid. He must be talking about others in the agency. They could never afford to let him go: he ran the Bauer account, and everyone knew it – even Murray. Despite all his lunching and networking, Murray couldn't possibly run the car account alone. It was quite beyond him and, more to the point, Dieter wouldn't put up with it. Despite these attempts at overcoming his doubts and justifying his position, he must have looked concerned.

‘Mate, don't worry, I haven't got you in my sights – at least, not right now I haven't.' He laughed. It was typical of Russell's idea of a joke, playing Russian roulette with someone else's life. Hugh attempted to share in this moment of heavy-handed bonhomie by smiling. It was a little strained, he could feel that. ‘You're an important part of our team, Hughsy. Your contribution's valuable, and this fact is regularly noted by the Board. What I'm clarifying here and now is that each of us has to pull his weight. I expect that of you anyway. That's why I'm looking to you to help us with the BMW pitch.'

‘We're going after BMW?' Hugh was startled.

‘You didn't know?'

Hugh was tempted to say that no one, meaning management, ever told him anything, but he could see that Russell knew perfectly well that he'd heard nothing about the pitch, despite the fact he ran the competitive Bauer account. ‘I knew the account was on the move, read it in
Ad News
, but I had no idea …'

‘It's worth double, maybe treble the Bauer business. It's straightforward arithmetic.'

Hugh could almost see the dollar signs in Russell's eyes. ‘Murray knows about this, I take it?' He already knew the answer.

‘Yes. Thought he'd have put you in the loop, too. My mistake.' It was said without any pretence of conviction.

It wasn't unheard of for advertising agencies to increase their revenue by ditching a smaller account in order to make space for a larger competitor. It was a practice Hugh had never been comfortable with. Not only did it reek of opportunism and demonstrate a betrayal of trust, but in his eyes it was a blatant breach of the client-agency relationship. It struck him as unethical, especially with a client that had been with an agency for as long as Bauer.

‘Have you spoken to BMW? Are they happy for us to pitch?'

‘They appreciate our experience with Bauer. I think that's why we're in with a chance. It gives us the inside track. There's no one on the list I rate, certainly no one with our knowledge of the prestige car market.'

‘And you want me to work on the pitch?' He asked the question, even though he couldn't see, morally, how he could do such a thing.

‘Not on the front line. I can't afford to take our eyes off the ball with regards to Bauer. I simply want you to make yourself available to help and advise when necessary. But keep in the background. Murray has loads of experience, and is already involved, so we probably won't be calling on your services at all, not unless we have to. Simply want to know you're there if required.'

Hugh nodded, almost overwhelmed by this vote of confidence in his abilities. At the same time he was sickened by the fact that he hadn't been confided in, that Murray hadn't bothered to inform him of what was going on. It was insulting. It was also typical of the agency's management tactics: secretive, underhand and belittling the worth of employees. He had been totally excluded, treated as if he was of no value whatsoever, and was now being presented with this fait accompli. He needed time to work out his position. The one thing he did know was that he wasn't willing to breach any client confidentialities.

‘How do you see this working, Russell?'

‘If we win the account? Well, Dieter will have to live with BMW being in the same agency, or take his account elsewhere. Obviously for us, it would be better if he stayed. I'd put Murray in charge of BMW, put new people onto the Bauer business. They'd be run by separate teams, have to be. Your man Dieter has been slow getting back to us, that's the problem.'

‘It's only been a few days.' Hugh didn't tell his managing director that he'd been phoning Dieter every day, and seen him once too. On that occasion he'd refused, with a dogmatic, emphatic ‘nein', to say which campaign he wanted to go with. ‘Until I have reached a decision, Hugh, I ask that the agency not proceed with either campaign.'

Russell, typically, had not said who'd be in charge of Bauer if the car account stayed with Alpha, and Hugh decided not to ask. It wasn't worth it; that was the way the man operated. But it went without saying, if Russell put someone else in charge of the Bauer account, he'd leave. No one was going to insult him like that.

Russell was still staring at him, quite expressionless. ‘Happy?'

Hugh shrugged. ‘I guess it depends …' But he didn't really know what it depended on, although Russell seemed to know.

‘Of course, no worries. Respect you for that. The thing is, until your client comes back to us with his opinion about Si's campaign, we need to protect our own interests.'

Russell dropped his legs off the desk, stood up, then leant forward across the shining mahogany, resting on his fists. Hugh thought he must be in much the same position as when he was fucking his female employees. He did his best to block the image from his mind.

‘It's bad timing. We can't absolutely rely on winning BMW, that's the point. We've a good chance, but we have to try and keep Dieter happy in the meantime. We've lost a couple of big accounts, as you know. We need to make up for those. We have to put on some substantial pieces of business in the next few months in order to get the agency back into profitability.'

Hugh felt uneasy. He was convinced he was being manoeuvered, but in which direction and why, he wasn't sure. What hadn't been said, but was very much front of mind as he strode down the corridor, was how a win or loss on either BMW or Bauer would affect his career. He felt everything was up in the air. He was drifting and unanchored. He was very much at the mercy of the currents and the wind. The worst part was, there was little he could do to influence the outcome.

Lynne called after him. He walked back down the corridor. She nodded in the direction of Russell's door, ‘He hasn't finished with you yet.'

The managing director was smiling broadly when Hugh went back into his office, and this made Hugh suspicious. ‘Almost forgot why I called you up here, mate. There is something you can do for us, and right now. I mentioned it to you before Easter.'

Although Hugh had no idea what Russell was talking about, his heart sank. There was something ominous about being recalled like this. He felt Russell was only pretending to have forgotten whatever it was he wanted to say.

‘That qualitative research report your client commissioned a few months ago …'

The sentence hung in the air. Hugh knew the report Russell was referring to. It was the most comprehensive research report Bauer had ever undertaken into the Australian and Asian markets. A complete analysis of the luxury car market, a comprehensive, in-depth survey that covered the attitudes and desires of consumers, their intentions and perceptions, across two continents.

‘It would help us to get a look at that report, mate. Make us look like we're on top of our game.'

Hugh was stunned. His client had spent thousands of dollars commissioning the research, and was now basing his marketing plans around the findings. ‘I'm sorry, Russell, what are you saying?'

‘Little slow this morning, aren't we, Hughsy? It's simple. We want to see that research report. Just a quick squiz. It'll be the icing on the cake. It could mean we can show BMW stuff they don't even know themselves. It could seal the deal.'

Hugh was scrambling to think what he could say. The managing director was staring at him, waiting. ‘I've barely seen that report myself, Russell. Dieter's really paranoid about these things.'

It was something that had always struck Hugh about agency-client relationships in Australia, how clients rarely trusted their agency with sensitive marketing information. It was very much a master-servant relationship, whereas in the UK it was usually a real partnership.

‘He's been through the report with me, read out some of the findings, but otherwise he's kept it very close to his chest. There isn't a copy in the agency, never has been. He simply won't allow it.'

‘It can't be that hard to get your hands on a copy, Hughsy. Maybe tell Dieter we need to check our new campaign against the findings. I don't know, you can come up with something.'

Hugh let out a long breath, shaking his head slowly. ‘It won't be easy.'

‘I'm asking you to give it a go.' Russell leant even further across the desk, raising himself slightly. ‘A real go.' Hugh again pictured a secretary or account person squirming beneath him, beneath the flushed face and pulsing veins, their boss seeking deeper penetration, wanting to really fuck them over, about to come. ‘Like I said, Alpha's going through a tough time right now. We need to get some runs on the board. You can help us do that.'

‘I understand that, Russell. But, well, I think I need some time, a little time to … you know, think about it.'

‘You reckon?' Russell was surprised. ‘Well, if that's how you feel, but you need to get back to me by tomorrow at the latest. We don't have any more time. And I can't imagine what there is to think about, anyway.'

‘Have you spoken to Murray about this?'

‘Yes. Thinks it's a great idea. Agrees with me, it's no big deal.'

This is definitely a big deal,
Hugh thought
.

‘Matter of fact, he was the one who suggested I speak to you. Says you handle the day-to-day running of the account, so you're best placed to get your hands on the research. Otherwise, he said he'd do it.'

The wily old bastard. That's so typical of him – buck passing, dodging his responsibilities.

It looked as if their talk was over. Hugh started to rise. He felt sick, his legs weak.

‘Of course, if you can land the Bauer international business, we won't have to put ourselves through all of this.'

Hugh stared at his boss in disbelief. His heart didn't just sink, it plummeted. ‘Ha! If that's all you want, Russell, I'll see what I can do.' He immediately wondered if he'd overdone the sarcasm.

‘I think the Germans might consider our case quite favourably right now. Their international agency – that mob in Mannheim – is doing shit work, and has been for years. It's time Bauer got some fresh thinking on their worldwide campaign.'

‘The problem is, they happen to like the work.' He wasn't going to allow Russell to live in some fictitious world of his own making.

‘Giving you an option, mate, that's all. Just saying, if you landed the international business, we wouldn't have to go after BMW. Save ourselves a lot of bother'

As he left the room, Hugh was obliged to pause while Russell delivered his parting shot – in plain earshot of Lynne. ‘Do that for us, mate, and your job's as secure as Fort Knox, or a nun's virginity – whichever you prefer.' He was laughing as he sat down behind his desk.

Hugh strode down the corridor, past the many empty offices, feeling decidedly empty himself. He was almost back in his own office when he swung around and headed back towards the management section of the floor. The door was half-open, but he didn't bother to knock. The first thing he noticed, the thing that immediately hit him between the eyes, was the sheer quantity of BMW brochures lying around the office, on Murray's desk and meeting table.

‘I do not appreciate being landed in the shit like this.'

‘My dear fellow, what are you talking about?'

‘You know bloody well what I'm talking about, Murray. Firstly, not bothering to tell me that we're pitching for BMW. What kind of position do you think that places me in if Dieter hears about this?'

‘Quite right, old chap. Sorry about that. Must have slipped my mind.' This was said with absolutely no attempt at sincerity.

Hugh snorted. ‘And telling Russell to ask me to get a copy of the Bauer research report, an almost impossible task, as you well know. Thanks a lot. Why don't you do his dirty work for a change? I really don't need this.' And he turned and stormed out of the room. Murray didn't try and call him back.