I read an article the other day that got me thinking about the day, 20 years ago, that I, along with many others, was laid off from MacLaren McCann due to General Motors’ sales declines, and how I suggested a few of the same alternate employment suggestions to MacLaren McCann’s HR department to no avail. 

“That’s not how we do things around here.” 

True enough . . . just because MacLaren McCann was a large Advertising Agency that prided itself on its ability to come up with “creative communication solutions”, it does not follow that the agency is willing or able to think creatively from an operational standpoint; despite the irony that any ad agency is only as good its people. 

Highlights of the article are below.

Last week, Jack Dorsey stunned markets with a bombshell: Block, the fintech company he co-found-ed, will eliminate 4,000 positions, blaming artificial intelligence. The move removes nearly half the workforce and ranks among the most aggressive Al-related reductions to date. As thousands of employees were informed that computers were taking their jobs, financial markets cheered.

Block's shares surged 25%, adding more than US$6 billion in market value. In his note to employees posted on X, Dorsey framed the decision in starkly binary terms: "I had two op-tions: cut gradually over months or years as this shift plays out, or be honest about where we are and act on it now," he posted. What is striking is the narrowness of the decision set especially since Dorsey acknowledged that Block is "strong gross profit continues to grow." To be fair, Dorsey didn't sound like a typical CEO cost-cutter. His memo was direct and compassionate, and he offered generous severance packages.

Yet, tone and substance are different things. (While) Dorsey's dilemma is real. The troubling question is why a highly profitable company, led by a CEO who genuinely cares about people, treats layoffs - and only layoffs - as the default response to technological progress? 

So, what other options did he have?

One would be to shorten the work week.

• A four-day workweek has been documented as life-changing for employees. Most would probably prefer it — even at 80% — rather than losing their jobs; 
• Even a 30-hour workweek at 75% pay could work.

Another — in the spirit of Google's "20% time" policy — would allow employees to spend one day a week on self-guided side projects. In Google's case it helped create Gmail, Google News and AdSense.

It would probably generate synergies for Block as well.

A third option would be reallocating labour internally — growing the firm, investing in new products and expanding into new markets.

Lastly, to evade shareholder pressure, Dorsey could have taken the company private, or made it employee-owned, making it more about people and less about profits.

Dorsey's "two options" framing exclude this entire menu. This matters because the corporate narrative increasingly treats layoffs as the natural, almost inevitable, response to Al-driven efficiency.

Amir Barnea is an Associate Professor of Finance at HEC, Montreal

and a freelance contributing columnist.

Early in the new year brands across the world pick up where they left off in 2025 - heading in what they hope is the “right direction”. And while you’ll want your brand to do better in 2026 than it did in 2025, so will every other brand manager out there; despite all of the global uncertainty that makes 2026 very different.

What will you do to build your brand fidelity - not just your brand loyalty?

While I’m not going to attempt a summary of best practices here because the right approach for your business depends on your management style, your business category, competitive environment, brand positioning, and where your brand is on its brand life-line, here are a few things to take to heart:

1.  You need a plan. Period. Many businesses I work with don’t have one and wander around lost.

2.  You need to plan the work. A plan, however rudimentary, enables you to define your goals and justify them emotionally and intellectually. Both kinds of justification are important as they will combine to create a far more compelling force with which to propel you towards your goal.

3.  You need to work the plan. The plan needs to be understood by all employees - notably those who interact with the public - because a great plan also helps your customers clearly understand the terms of the brand relationship - and why they should consider fidelity.

Many people don’t like “working plan”. I have a few thoughts on this:

1.  If your resistance is coming from a client or agency manager who is a trusted brand stakeholder with progressive ideas based on logical consumer insights, consider doing a cost-benefit study without affecting the pace and trajectory of the original \ approved plan.

2.  If your resistance is coming from an emotional client or agency manager who thinks that they have a short-cut to greater brand success, suggest some A/B testing. The greatest names in every discipline known to man are slaves to repetition - which includes testing. 

Because it takes time and perspective to write a good, actionable plan, start now. Consider reviewing your current plan and your progress before the holidays and then look at the changing competitive terrain and decide where you want your brand to be in December 2026. Agree multiple paths to the 2026 goal line with your management team.

Prepare a presentation for early January 2026 that outlines the Goals, Strategies + Tactics for the year.

Break your tactics down to the individual level to ensure each person on your team knows exactly what they need to do to help the brand make its year.

I asked Ai “Who is Frank Wehrmann, Toronto”, and received this accurate:

Frank Wehrmann is a self-employed freelance communications director and coach based in Toronto. He specializes in integrated communications, brand strategy, and leadership training, combining extensive agency experience with consultative sales and neuro-linguistic language modeling to help build sustainable brands. 

Career Overview

Current Role:  Frank Wehrmann works as a freelance communications director and coach, a position he has held since October 2006. His work is focused on holistic problem-solving in communications, exploring and challenging the status quo for brand building.

Agency Experience: His previous roles include positions such as Creative Director, Group Account Service Director, and Media Director at prominent agencies in Toronto and Detroit, including Foster, McCann, Ogilvy & Mather, and MacLaren. His work took him to cities such as Toronto, ON., Boston, MA., Detroit, MI., and Winnipeg, MB.

Expertise:  He has worked in both English and French Canada as well as the Northeast U.S.. His experience includes designing and executing integrated multi-media campaigns, developing proprietary consumer research, and managing account services for numerous North American brands. He has a gift for developing and executing integrated communication programs, which includes proprietary consumer research, multi-media campaigns, and brand standard development. 

Creative, Media and Account Direction: His work involved creative direction, media planning, and account service for various brands across North America.

Proprietary Research: He developed and executed communication programs, including qualitative and quantitative consumer research. 

Professional Philosophy: He describes his own brand as "Counter Culture Communications," emphasizing the importance of congruence between a company's operations and its internal and customer-facing communications. He believes that it’s the key to building brand loyalty. Frank is skeptical of "best practices," believing that great brands need to find and define their own paths. 

Other information

Education: He is an alumnus of Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), where he studied Business Administration, Marketing and Management.

Online presence: He shares his insights on marketing and branding on his blog, available through his website wehrmann.ca. He has been blogging since 2008 to build his online profile and hone his communication skills.

 Please note: there are other individuals named Frank Wehrmann in different professions, including a key account manager in Germany and a research assistant in Berlin, but the individual based in Toronto fits the context of your query.

 Key insights for you and your brand:

1. Because it drew on just five sources, all of which I control, my Ai profile didn’t have any contradictions or 'hallucinations'. 
2. Subtle query differences like these generated somewhat different profiles.
   • “Who is Frank Wehrmann?”  |  “Who is Frank Wehrmann, Toronto?”  |  “Who is Frank Wehrmann, Canada?”
3. It's vitally important for your brand to distribute as much consumer-relevant and accurate brand information across the web as possible, helping Ai powered search to extoll the advantages of your brand.