Interactive Agency Lot21 Lays Off 30

Hit by a tightening market for online advertising and under pressure to downsize operations, San Francisco-based interactive agency Lot21 today canned 30 employees.

“We had hired optimistically for fourth quarter and due to industry market conditions in general, we have decided to streamline and realign our business,” said Kate Everett-Thorp, president and chief executive officer of Lot21.

“We feel very positive about our prospects for the future and are continuing to move forward with expansion efforts (next year),” she said in a statement released exclusively to Internet Advertising Report sister publication atNewYork.

The company declined to provide specifics of the cutbacks but atNewYork has learned that 30 employees at both locations — in New York and San Francisco — were affected. Back in June, Lot21 said its staff numbered more than 150, but executives wouldn’t stay how the count currently stands.

Ironically, the company only a week ago officially opened a full-service office in New York, after having established a “development lab” in the Big Apple back in February. The new office was to serve clients like Time and Unilever. It’s not known whether the newly-hired New York executive team will be touched by the cutbacks.

Launched in 1998, Lot21 styles itself as a digital marketing, media and advertising agency, and it has been known for being very forward-thinking in its outlook, having experimented early with new advertising media like wireless and broadband. Other clients include Sega, Palm Computing, CNET, and eBay.

*Ryan Naraine is an Assistant Editor at IAR sister publication atNewYork.com.