FarFar is dead, Isobar shut it down today, and their client Nokia is surprised

Yes, you've heard by now that Farfar is dead. It's true, Isobar has shut down the Swedish creative hot shop in their network and given everyone their pink slips. Everyone that was left, that is.

Matias Palm Jensen, the agencies founder was tight-lipped when he spoke to Dagens Media today ; But he did say ”Jag hade drivit det vidare” - I would have continued to run the agency rather than shut it down. And I would have had everyone who left with me onboard..

"Farfar is not built on me. The other people did not jump ship because I left, the agency is built on a strong collective vision about what we want to do. Isobar couldn't handle it. Simple as that."

Isobar's global CEO Mark Cranmer has a different view of it all, to Dagens Media he says Farfar was just a small investment anyway. He admits that "today was "the worst day of my career" as he had to walk in to the office and fire everyone. The crew that jumped ship were vocal in their opinion that Isobar hindered Farfar's development, rather than helped. Mark Cranmer has this response:

I don't think Isobar has had this type of agency, that is a brand in itself. We've not always been clear, and that lack of clarity can have hurt Farfar's development. We're talking about passionate, driven and intelligent strong people. I like these cultures, but we have reached a business decision that I think is the correct one. It's a decision I am not proud of.

Meanwhile, what about Nokia? First the entire team that worked on Nokia left, now the agency has collapsed. Resumé reports that Nokias marketing creation cheif Tapio Hedman had no idea that Farfar was shutting its doors for good, he found out when the reporters called him.

Farfar is a good partner to us. With that said, Farfar is just one of many partners that we work with. Nokia is never dependent on a single supplier.

said Tapio Hedman to Resumé.

Sixteen people were told they lost their jobs today, as the agency quite suddenly had shrunk from the previous 40 people who used to work at Farfar but resigned earlier. Farfar is dead, long live Farfar.