Because of a referral from a mutual acquaintance I listened to Mr. Shriber's lackluster pitch which was basically nonspecifics on what he could do for our business and all about his 20 plus years of experience and some award he won a decade ago. (What sort of pitch focuses on the ad-guy and not the client or product? Red flag #1) He went on to about his career and people he knows and how he left WDVE because "HE outgrew the company" and about all of the new business he has going on with his new outfit. This went on for a good 30-40 minutes and was completely boring and unlike any other pitch I have heard before or since.
While I am no ad genius myself and thus why I was looking to hire an agency it struck me as strange at how he knew basically nothing about social media or any digital media. Even general terminology. My kids know more than this guy. Actually he was pretty ignorant about any other advertising mediums besides radio. He said he worked with "experts" on this and that, but if the guy at the helm is an idiot that what can you expect from the rest of the team? And I don't think he really has any "team" of experts or even any fellow idiots by the way.
On top of that his rates were grossly inflated. Particularly for what was clearly a struggling agency. Nevermind that by talking to him he makes himself out to be Charles Saatchi, it was apparent he'd say anything for an account. If he has 3 actual clients I'd be surprised. His forecasts were totally ridiculous and it was clear he'd say anything to get a client. Even easily available public info on media shares were skewed by this guy and he just left a bad taste in my mouth and you can tell he is very phoney and insincere.
After being disappointed by him and his 1990s sales pitch about himself and who he knows, I shopped around some more and looked into going direct. Well I really should have looked on google and this site before I wasted time talking to him and gave him my contact info. Turns out what other reports say is true. He didn't "outgrow" dve, he was fired for stealing with his brothers and barely stayed out of jail. Of course this sort of slimeball offered dve a settlement not to prosecute him after innocent coworkers and clients were already diposed and they had all of the data from his company computer. He was handcuffed and taken out of the office by the police. And I heard this directly from the horse's mouth in addition to from other agencies and reps. I guess its well known that he had some scheme to falsify on-air prize winners and would unload the stuff (cruises, trips, concert tickets and so on ) to Green Apple a local pittsburgh barter company and then they'd liquidate it for him. Guess he had all sorts of under the table deals and was ripping dve and clients off in every imaginable way well into the 6 figures! Heard he sent everyone he knows to Aruba on the company dime at some point before "he outgrew them" and he was cuffed and hauled off to the county jail.
Well as if this wasn't enough then this guy kept blowing up my phone desperate for business. I tried to just give him the hint because we have a mutual acquaintance but he kept calling and calling. I stopped taking his calls and almost felt bad for the poor sap being in his 50s and cold calling and bothering people who clearly turned him down. Wll that pity ended when I hear that he was talking shit saying to mutual people in MY industry that I couldn't afford his rates or "expertise" and I was probably better off to hire a highschool or college kid. I was plenty nice to this asshole when I gave him the brushoff but here is the truth about Doug Shriber. He's a desperate slimy used car salesman past his prime and with a horrible reputation and I'll make it my business to tell every single business contact I have all about this fraud!
If you don't believe me or the other posters, just ask WDVE before you do business with him or ask anyone you know in the ad industry. You will either see eyeballs roll or get a flood of some pretty comical stories. If it was nailed down he really made off with it. Take my advice, avoid this dirtball and pass this information along to all of your Pittsburgh business contacts.
Marbury Group Reviews
Because of a referral from a mutual acquaintance I listened to Mr. Shriber's lackluster pitch which was basically nonspecifics on what he could do for our business and all about his 20 plus years of experience and some award he won a decade ago. (What sort of pitch focuses on the ad-guy and not the client or product? Red flag #1) He went on to about his career and people he knows and how he left WDVE because "HE outgrew the company" and about all of the new business he has going on with his new outfit. This went on for a good 30-40 minutes and was completely boring and unlike any other pitch I have heard before or since.
While I am no ad genius myself and thus why I was looking to hire an agency it struck me as strange at how he knew basically nothing about social media or any digital media. Even general terminology. My kids know more than this guy. Actually he was pretty ignorant about any other advertising mediums besides radio. He said he worked with "experts" on this and that, but if the guy at the helm is an idiot that what can you expect from the rest of the team? And I don't think he really has any "team" of experts or even any fellow idiots by the way.
On top of that his rates were grossly inflated. Particularly for what was clearly a struggling agency. Nevermind that by talking to him he makes himself out to be Charles Saatchi, it was apparent he'd say anything for an account. If he has 3 actual clients I'd be surprised. His forecasts were totally ridiculous and it was clear he'd say anything to get a client. Even easily available public info on media shares were skewed by this guy and he just left a bad taste in my mouth and you can tell he is very phoney and insincere.
After being disappointed by him and his 1990s sales pitch about himself and who he knows, I shopped around some more and looked into going direct. Well I really should have looked on google and this site before I wasted time talking to him and gave him my contact info. Turns out what other reports say is true. He didn't "outgrow" dve, he was fired for stealing with his brothers and barely stayed out of jail. Of course this sort of slimeball offered dve a settlement not to prosecute him after innocent coworkers and clients were already diposed and they had all of the data from his company computer. He was handcuffed and taken out of the office by the police. And I heard this directly from the horse's mouth in addition to from other agencies and reps. I guess its well known that he had some scheme to falsify on-air prize winners and would unload the stuff (cruises, trips, concert tickets and so on ) to Green Apple a local pittsburgh barter company and then they'd liquidate it for him. Guess he had all sorts of under the table deals and was ripping dve and clients off in every imaginable way well into the 6 figures! Heard he sent everyone he knows to Aruba on the company dime at some point before "he outgrew them" and he was cuffed and hauled off to the county jail.
Well as if this wasn't enough then this guy kept blowing up my phone desperate for business. I tried to just give him the hint because we have a mutual acquaintance but he kept calling and calling. I stopped taking his calls and almost felt bad for the poor sap being in his 50s and cold calling and bothering people who clearly turned him down. Wll that pity ended when I hear that he was talking shit saying to mutual people in MY industry that I couldn't afford his rates or "expertise" and I was probably better off to hire a highschool or college kid. I was plenty nice to this asshole when I gave him the brushoff but here is the truth about Doug Shriber. He's a desperate slimy used car salesman past his prime and with a horrible reputation and I'll make it my business to tell every single business contact I have all about this fraud!
If you don't believe me or the other posters, just ask WDVE before you do business with him or ask anyone you know in the ad industry. You will either see eyeballs roll or get a flood of some pretty comical stories. If it was nailed down he really made off with it. Take my advice, avoid this dirtball and pass this information along to all of your Pittsburgh business contacts.