Atlanta's Definition 6 Joins Digital Agency Layoff Club

Atlanta-based Definition 6 laid off approximately eight staffers in recent weeks. Cuts at the full-service digital agency affected employees at all levels, from director positions to rank-and-file account executives.

CEO Michael Kogon confirmed the layoffs and chalked them up to constipation in credit markets — especially for manufacturing clients — and plentiful evidence of an extended downturn in travel and leisure categories, among other factors.

“Their ability to invest in anything is way off,” Kogon said of manufacturers. He added at the time the agency made the decision to let people go, “It was very clear the first half of ’09, if not all of ’09, was going to be… very tough.”

Definition 6 is an interactive ad and e-commerce agency with customer relationship management capabilities. Services include media planning, creative services, and app development for e-commerce systems; clients have included hotel chain La Quinta, VeriFone, and Mitsubishi Electric.

Layoffs at the firm have accumulated since late fall, representing just over 7 percent of employees. Its current headcount is 50, according to Kogon.

Kogon said the 10-year-old firm was affected two years ago by a drop off in home building. When that happened, he said he redeployed staffers into more robust sectors. This time around, that wasn’t an option.

“This is not our first time going through categorical as well as economic shifts,” he said. “When you have a genuine economic moment like we’re having right now, management’s responsibility is to customers…banks, investors. Although it’s not pleasant,it is the right thing to do if done the right way.”