Power Play Marketing review: Unethical Company/Employee Mistreatment

I am currently employed at Power Play Marketing, and I'm one of several trying to get out of the company. I am definitely one of the top selling sales reps, so I'm not writing this as a disgruntled individual who blames a company for my failures. I thought I was hired to sell advertising into USA Today's Special Edition Magazines, but in reality the job consists of selling free tickets to sporting events and concerts to decision makers in sales positions at mid-large size companies, which automatically come with every ad purchase. The magazines themselves aren't audited by USA Today, so you don't have any statistics to back up the quality of the publications, which is completely unheard of in the advertising world. You are given very vague statements on circulation that you're allowed to mention to prospective clients over the phone, but the company is very adamant that you not put anything in writing because they don't have any proof that the magazines sell, let alone who reads them. Even our Vice President of Sales acknowledges that the magazines aren't the best compared to competing publications, but he forces you to push the free tickets as a way to "stimulate demand." I have a few clients who've renewed, but a majority of them don't because they blew most of their marketing budget with me, and saw zero return. Half of them have told me that they went out looking for the publication in the major retailers in which I promised the magazine would be, and they couldn't find it. If the magazines were so lucrative, USA Today would actually measure them, so clearly they just see them as a nifty way to make a few extra dollars on the side with little effort.

The Vice President of Sales, Jeff Nellett, is absolutely psychotic. He will have what you think is a private conversation with an employee, and the next minute he's bashing that same individual behind their back to one of his 3 favorite sales reps. In addition, he makes fun of certain reps in the office repeatedly behind their backs, and sometimes even in his morning sales meetings to the entire office. There's one girl in the office who's a very sweet girl, and tries very hard to be successful, but isn't the brightest crayon in the box. Nevertheless, Jeff will tell other employees that he knows she's not very bright, but admires her effort. He's verbally abusive, dishonest, and constantly threatens your job, even if you are selling, but not to the level that he wants to see. In addition, he will routinely threaten employees with decreasing their already meager base salaries (the average starting salary at this company is $30, 000), when he does decrease someone's salary it's usually by $5, 000-$10, 000, which is a huge chunk of cash to the 20-somethings who make-up the majority of the office. Also, he will find a variety of creative reasons why he won't give you the raise he promised even if you've met the requirements he asked of you in order to receive more money.

Lastly, the HR policy is so vague that not even Jeff fully understands it. Simply put, don't miss a day of work. Of the 10 days off that you accumulate during the year, you have to save at least 5 of them in order to have the day after Thanksgiving off paid, as well as the days at the end of the year in which the office is closed from Christmas through New Year's, so essentially you only have 5 sick/vacation days. The HR policy has changed 3 times since I've been here, and it's all stacked against employees who've been with the company less than a year. It's horrible.

If you are considering interviewing with this company and you're straight out of college DON'T DO IT! If you have a degree in Marketing or Advertising and you're straight out of college DON'T INTERVIEW BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT GET TO USE ANYTHING YOU'VE LEARNED! If you're an experienced advertising or marketing professional, RUN FROM THIS COMPANY! There were people who've worked here since I've been here who've come from advertising backgrounds, and they've all left. The environment is hostile, Jeff Nellett is a horrible manager on a major power trip, and the product you're selling is second-rate at best. It's a ticket brokerage disguised as a marketing firm...DO NOT INTERVIEW WITH THIS COMPANY IF YOU HAVE ANY SELF-RESPECT OR INTEGRITY!