Eric Hadley (Getty Images for Bing)
It was seen as a coup for Microsoft when it hired away Eric Hadley, one of Yahoo!’s top marketing execs, three years ago to lead marketing for its revamped Bing search engine.
So it came as a shock to many on Madison Avenue this week when Microsoft announced — unprompted — that Hadley and another top marketing executive, Sean Carver, had been fired after an internal investigation found “mismanagement of company assets and vendor procurement.”
Hadley, who had previously worked for Microsoft in marketing for its MSN online service, and Carver were well-known in advertising circles, in particular for forging “branded entertainment” partnerships that drew on celebrities, athletes and bold-face names to promote Bing.
On Monday, Microsoft’s p.r. machine sent a statement to Advertising Age and other news outlets, saying the two execs were fired following the internal probe. Sources close to Hadley and Carver said they were taken aback by the move.
While Microsoft provided few details beyond a statement, the public rebuke also sent a message to Madison Avenue about the power of procurement departments — or the corporate “bean counters” — tasked with monitoring the often murky world of branded entertainment where handshake deals are more common than contracts.
Hadley and Carver made sure Bing was at every hot media and tech get-together from South By South West to Sundance — and even sponsored the ESPN exclusive special when LeBron James announced his move to the Miami Heat.
With Bing’s estimated $100 million marketing budget at their disposal, the two execs were credited with helping the search engine move the needle. Microsoft’s search business, which had just 8 percent of the US market in 2009 when Bing was launched, claimed 15.3 percent in February — the highest in its history.
Sources said the duo may have strained their marketing budget at this year’s Sundance Film Festival where the company hosted four days of events featuring music acts such as Drake and Wiz Khalifa.
“They played fast and loose, meaning they made deals on a handshake, but if procurement wants to find a way to f—k you they can,” said one executive familiar with the situation. “Is anyone surprised it costs money to do a party at Sundance?”
Hadley, who is believed to be considering a move from the West Coast to his home in the Hamptons, declined to comment. Carver couldn’t be reached.
Microsoft management started looking into marketing expenses after Bing boss Yusuf Mehdi shifted to the Xbox gaming division in November, sources said.
The firings also coincide with the departure of their boss, Bing general manager Danielle Tiedt, who left for a marketing role at Google’s YouTube in February.
Indeed, Microsoft played hard ball over the exit of Tiedt, who couldn’t be reached for comment.
“We can confirm that Microsoft made the decision to part ways with Danielle Tiedt, effective immediately,” the company said. “We don’t comment on internal personnel issues, but we can say that the decision to part ways was not related to her interest in joining YouTube.”