SUBIACO-BASED Gatecrasher Advertising has cut back six staff after losing one of its major accounts, Curtin University of Technology, to The Brand Agency last week. WA Business News reported on August 13 that Curtin chose to give the $4 million advertising account to The Brand after its six-year contract with Gatecrasher was put under review. Gatecrasher Creative partner Adam Barker told WA Business News that Curtin was a labour-intensive account and a significant loss, however the agency retained major accounts such as Bedshed, worth an estimated $9 million. “Curtin is a great brand. But it is probably one of the most complex advertising accounts to manage in the Perth market. We’ve done an outstanding job over the past five years and we’re extremely proud of all the work we’ve created,’’ he said. “Some accounts simply need change from time to time.” Curtin came up second of the top five best employer brands in this year’s WA Business News Branding Survey. The Curtinnovation campaign developed by Gatecrasher in 2003 and the heavy newspaper recruitment advertising in the past 12 months was acknowledged by the marketing and advertising sector in the survey responses as elements that improved Curtin’s employer brand.Gatecrasher retains 25 employees.