The Tarzian Tale

When last we blogged about the spat between Euro RSCG 4D and former New York CEO Charlie Tarzian, I’d only heard about the suit the agency filed against him. Turns out that was a countersuit to the one Tarzian filed against Euro last week, he told me over the phone yesterday.

The dispute, according to Tarzian, centers around a technology, the “Dynamic Marketing Environment” or “ClientViews,” he says he brought into the company when he joined. Tarzian claims Euro client IBM was looking for the agency to update and enhance the software, but Euro wasn’t interested in being in the software business. Tarzian, however, was interested, and felt it was necessary. So he started planning his own company, Last Mile, to further develop the software, which he claims to still have rights to.

Euro, as I blogged before, is accusing Tarzian of trying to steal its business and of unfairly disparaging the agency.

Interesting battle in that it sheds light on the internal debates that go on at agencies over marketing software and its role within the business. Build? Buy? Outsource? If Tarzian’s correct, it appears clients (IBM, anyway) are putting an increasing emphasis on technology as a differentiator.