Jerry J. Siano Named New CEO of NW Ayer

Just two days after losing its most visible but most fickle client, Burger King, the New York ad agency NW Ayer on Tuesday placed a new chief executive at the helm.

The agency’s new leader, Jerry J. Siano, spearheaded the unsuccessful “We do it like you’d do it” Burger King campaign. He replaces Louis T. Hagopian, who plans to remain with the agency as chairman for one year before retiring, it was announced in New York.

“We’re not down. We’re not shook up. We’re doing absolutely fine,” said Siano, in an interview Tuesday morning. He said the 63-year-old Hagopian’s decision to relinquish the chief executive title to him had been planned for some time and was unrelated to the loss earlier this week of Burger King’s national advertising business. “Obviously, the timing is just happenstance,” said Siano, who had been vice chairman at Ayer since 1980.

Siano, who joined Ayer as an art designer 33 years ago, becomes only the seventh chief executive at the 120-year-old agency. The trade magazine Advertising Age ranks Ayer as the nation’s 15th largest, with 1988 worldwide billings exceeding $1.9 billion.

Although Siano inherits a number of problems, all news is not bad at Ayer. Earlier this week, the agency won the estimated $60-million advertising business from C. R. Eggs, a new low-cholesterol egg product that plans to begin heavy national advertising within the next year. And some of Ayer’s other creative work, particularly for the J. C. Penney Co. retail chain, has been highly regarded by ad industry executives.

Siano is the first Ayer chief executive to come from the creative side of the business. And not surprisingly, he said that improved creative work will be his prime mission at Ayer. “A company’s pace is set by the chief executive,” said the 54-year-old Siano. “I hope to make this a much better known and exciting company.” He will do that, he said, by continuing to improve the firm’s creative work.

At the same time, however, Siano said layoffs of up to 45 people are planned in Ayer’s New York office. And if, as expected, Ayer also loses Burger King’s regional advertising business, some layoffs could follow in the Los Angeles office, he said.

The Los Angeles office, whose largest client is Toshiba Information Systems division, could undergo some other changes, too, Siano said. David H. Means, the corporate executive vice president who oversaw all of Ayer’s branch offices, is retiring. Siano said he expects to name a replacement within the next two weeks. John Littlewood, however, will remain chairman of the Los Angeles office, he said.

“At least people won’t be hammering away at us any more about Burger King,” said Siano. “That will be a relief.”