Ogilvy (agency)

Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

Company type	Subsidiary of WPP
Industry	Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations
Founded	New York, New York (1948)
Headquarters	New York, New York , USA
Subsidiaries	OgilvyOne Worldwide OgilvyInteractive Ogilvy PR Ogilvy Healthworld OgilvyAction Neo@Ogilvy
Website	www.ogilvy.com

Ogilvy & Mather is an advertising agency based in New York City and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries around the world.

Ogilvy & Mather works with at least 7 related network units: OgilvyOne ( CRM and interactive), OgilvyInteractive (interactive; under OgilvyOne), Neo@Ogilvy (digital and direct media; under OgilvyOne), Ogilvy Public Relations ( PR), Ogilvy Healthworld (health care communications and marketing), and OgilvyAction (analytics and experiential marketing).

As of 2007, the chairperson and CEO of Ogilvy is Rochelle B. (Shelly) Lazarus. She has been in that position since 1996. [1]

Ogilvy & Mather was founded in 1948 by David Ogilvy, as "Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather," and established itself as a leading worldwide agency by the 1960s. Central to its growth was its strategy of building brands like American Express, BP, Ford, Barbie, Maxwell House, IBM, Kodak, Nestlé and Unilever brands Pond's & Dove. [2]

Integrated in the firm's corporate culture is Ogilvy's concept of "360 Degree Brand Stewardship", which he defined as "a willingness to use the broadest array of tools and techniques to understand, develop and enhance the relationship between a consumer and a brand." [3]

In 2004 OgilvyOne launched a digital summit called Verge. This has become a major agency-led forum for clients and industry experts to discuss the challenges and possibilities of digital marketing. The agency has taken the conference to over 20 of the world's leading markets. [4]

Also, in recent documents made avaialble to the public through the tobacco industry's 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, Ogilvy and Mather played a key role in promoting the image of the Tobacco Institute.

Clients

• American Express (since 1962)
• BP (since 1999)
• Cisco (since 2002)
• Coca-Cola Company (since 2001)
• DHL (since 2002)
• DuPont (since 2003)
• Ford (since 1975)
• Gillette (since 1962)
• GlaxoSmithKline (since 1983)
• IBM (since 1994)
• Kodak (since 1995)
• Kraft (since 1958)
• Lenovo (since 2005)
• Mattel (since 1959)
• Motorola (since 2000)
• Nestle (since 1956)
• NexCen Brands (since 2007)
• SAP (since 1999)
• Tobacco Institute (ended 1998)
• Unilever (since 1954)

Notable Campaigns

In 1975, David Ogilvy developed the "Don't Leave Home Without It" ad campaign for American Express Traveler's Cheques, featuring Oscar Award-winning actor Karl Malden. Malden was the public face of American Express Travelers Cheques for twenty-five years, acting as television cop who advised travelers to carry the cheques. These ads ended with a call to action: "Don't let a thief spoil your vacation. Get American Express Travelers Cheques. Don't leave home without them." The "Don't Leave Home Without It" slogan was revived in 2005 for the prepaid American Express Travelers Cheque Card.

After Karl Malden's departure, American Express continued to feature celebrities. A typical ad, like one with Jerry Seinfeld navigating English comedy, never mentioned the celebrity’s name, just showed it on his AmEx card. Recently, Ogilvy has been marketing the credit card with the “My Life, My Card” campaign that features celebrities like Martin Scorsese [5], Robert DeNiro [6], Wes Anderson [7], and Ken Watanabe.

Ogilvy have also been involved with the notorious Asia Pulp & Paper, a large logging company that has been convicted of illegal logging in three countries, and has recently built roads illegally into the last remaining habitats of the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger, but spent large sums on global advertising campaigns claiming 'sustainability beyond compliance'. Following breaches of local law in Febraury 2008, a group of environmental organisations have called for all businesses to cease connections with the company. Staples and Office Depot have already cut ties, though Ogilvy are thought to still be involved with the company.

Advertising on the Internet

Dove Evolution In 2006, Ogilvy Toronto released a new campaign for the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty entitled Evolution [8]. It has been viewed by over twelve million people. A copywriter from Ogilvy Toronto, uploaded the advertisement to video sharing website YouTube. The video won the Cyber Lion Grand Prix and the Film Grand Prix at the Cannes Lion Awards in 2007. The video's Cannes synopsis reads: "We created a film that exposed the manipulation of the female image in the media. The objective was to encourage discussion around the subject of real beauty and lead people to the Campaign for Real Beauty website."

Motorola, 2006 Motorola, 2006 When Motorola launched a new line of youth-oriented mobile phones in China, Ogilvy didn't focus on ads for TV, newspapers or magazines. Instead, it hired a pair of Chinese college students, dubbed the Back Dorm Boyz [9], to post home videos of themselves lip synching to pop songs on the web. The students became celebrities, and the campaign sparked a craze for online do-it-yourself lip-synching videos among Chinese youth. It also attracted young buyers to the new Motorola phones, and sales increased 270%. A related lip-synching and song re-mixing competition had 14 million page views in the first month, with traffic at one point crashing the site. Visitors cast more than 1.3 million votes to determine the winner of the contest [10]. The campaign also received Gold at the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards.

Which Side Are You On? (Lenovo, 2005) Which Side Are You On? (Lenovo, 2005) To support the launch of Lenovo's first-ever widescreen ThinkPad notebook, Ogilvy developed the "Which Side Are You On?" global viral campaign. This website asked people to vote for the classic matte black finish or the newly-launched titanium finish of the notebooks. The campaign has been discussed on nearly 140 blogs worldwide and the website has been viewed by people in 129 countries. 'Persuadatron' aided participants' engagement on the site, enabling users to send customized spoken messages to sway the votes of their friends.

History

1948 - David Ogilvy, age 39, opens Ogilvy, Benson and Mather in New York with two partners
1951 - Agency wins Hathaway Shirts account. David Ogilvy invents the “Hathaway Man.” Sales increase by 160%; “Guinness Guide to Oysters” is the first ad David wrote as head of O&M;. 1952 - “Come to Britain” campaign for British tourism moves Britain from 5th to 1st U.S. tourism destination.
1953 - OBM ranks 51st among U.S. agencies, with billings of $10.7 million. br /> 1955 - O&M helps launch Dove as “1/4 cleansing cream” – same premise sells brand today.
1956 – Ogilvy borrows “Titus Moody” character for Pepperidge Farm – campaign runs 30+ yrs.
1959 - O&M wins Maxwell House account – relations with Kraft started; Barbie is born.
1960 – Wins Shell oil – doubles agency billing to 50 mil; Rolls-Royce – one of the most famous car ads “At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electronic clock”.
1961 – Launches 1st sears campaign; wins KLM Royal Dutch Airlines- 25yrs later launches Flying Dutchman frequent flyer program for them.
1962 – O&M wins American Express – “Don’t leave home without it” & “Do you know me”
1963 David writes Confessions of an Advertising Man- International best-seller
1964 – David invents “Schweppervescence” – 500% increase over nine years in sales of Schweppes- campaign runs 18 yrs.
1965 - O&M merges with former parent Mather & Crowther(1850) – 1966 goes public.
1969 – Hershey client – builds them into #1 US chocolate maker.
1972 – O&M Direct (OgilvyOne Worldwide) opens and launches the “Quite frankly, the American Express Card is not for everyone” letter - mailed 280 mil times over 12 yrs.
1975 - Ford becomes O&M Europe client.
1976 - Launches Yellow Pages division, now OgilvyOne Directory Advertising.
1978 - O&M Bombay launches Indian Cancer Society campaign – within 2 mo. ICS check-up visits increase by 200%; Kimberly-Clark introduces Huggies: O&M “Happy Babies campaign establishes it as #1 diaper brand in the US.
1979 - opens office in China – O&M produces first direct response commercial in Mandarin for American Express.
1980 – Establishes PR operation – today Ogilvy Public Relations is a top 10 agency with more than 60 offices located around the world.
1982 - Launches Barbie Fan Club in France – 120,000 girls join in first year.
1983 - David writes Ogilvy On Advertising – best seller and industry text; Duracell becomes client; launches NutraSweet with mail-in coupon for aspartame gum balls – almost 3 million consumers get their first taste by mail.
1984 – 1st global agency to provide clients “electronic marketing” services later OgilvyInteractive.
1986 – O&M London wins Lucozade sports drink account.
1989 – Wins the annual Ford Marketing Excellence Award, wins it 6 more times in a row; 1st western ad agency to officially open in Soviet Union; WPPGroup acquires OM-David becomes non-executive WPP Chairman for 3 yrs.
1990 – O&M Direct wins DMA Diamond Echo Award 2 yrs in a row for Ryder’s “Moving Advantage” and “Crying” campaigns; Advertising Age names American Express “Portrait” series “Print Campaign of the Decade”
1991 – O&M Paris wins Cannes Grand Prix for Nestle Perrier “La Lionne” commercial.
1992 – Creates the Pond’s institute campaign in France; wins DHL account; Jaguar became North America O&M client. Sales increased more than 125%.
1993 – Wins first Nokia assignment; launches the American Express ”Charge Against Hunger” campaign. Which helped to provide more than 150 mil lbs. of food to people in need; Advertising Research Foundation establishes David Ogilvy Award to recognize campaigns that “best utilize quality and relevant research in their development”; OgilvyInteractive invents new marketing medium by inserting diskette in Forbes magazine – 8 out of 10 subscribers who responded asked to receive electronic catalog of products and services.
1994 – O&M Frankfurt wins Dresdner Bank account; IBM makes advertising history – consolidates worldwide account at O&M “one Brand, One Voice” unites Big Blue; O&M Paris helps transform EuroDisney into successful Disneyland Paris
1995 – OgilvyOne helps American Express launch global “Membership Rewards” loyalty program; O&M Japan opens in Tokyo; Kodak selects O&M Atlanta for single assignment. O&M Worldwide today manages total global account.
1996 – Wins Unilever’s Helene Curtis line worldwide; OgilvyOne Madrid’s mail campaign introducing Telefonica’s new online-access service, Infovia, brings in 11% response rate and wins prestigious Gold Mailbox Echo; Advertising Age names O&M Rightford (South Africa) International Agency of the Year; wins Sheraton; Standard O&M merges with Denison in Brazil, making O&M one of the largest agencies in the country; O&M London wins Unilever’s Impulse fragrance European account. In 1 yr, award-winning campaign helps sales rise 30%.
1997 – O&M and J.Walter Thompson pool media forces as MindShare in Europe and Asia and the Alliance in the U.S.;Punto O&M’s commercial for newspaper El Pais named Uruguay’s “Ad of the Decade”; launches new brand identity for KFC to reflect the spirit and heritage of founder Colonel Sanders; documentary film Advertising On Ogilvy is accepted into permanent collection of the Museum of Television & Radio in New York; O&M’s Results Advertising wins “Asian Creative Ad of the Year” for Black Cat Whiskey; largest advertising agency in Hong Kong and China.
1998 – named “Number One Interactive Ad Agency” – 1998, by Adweek; wins 2 premier Cyber Lions awards at Cannes Advertising Festival for Campaign Magazine On-line and the IBM Olympic Luge Game.
1999 – July 22 David dies.
2000 – Wins BP, Motorola and SAP; named “North America Agency of the Year” by AdWeek.
2001 – OgilvyInteractive named “Best Integrated Agency” by AdWeek; named “North America Agency of the Year” by AdWeek.
2002 – OgilvyPR becomes #1 in China; wins Grand EFFIE for IBM Infrastructure Campaign; OgilvyPR wins Network of the Year.
2003 – Wins Cisco and DuPont; 4 Ogilvy Offices: Ogilvy Italy, Ogilvy Mexico, Ogilvy Asia Pacific, and Dialogue Marketing win “Agency of the Year”.
2004 - Ogilvy celebrates 10 years as IBM's Agency of Record; OgilvyOne worldwide hosts the first Verge: the Global Digital Summit in NYC; Brian Fetherstonhaugh becomes Chief Executive Officer of OgilvyOne Worldwide. 2005 – OgilvyInteractive North America named AdWeek’s 2004 “Interactive Agency of the Year”; BtoB Magazine names OgilvyOne North America Direct Agency of the Year; The Dove Firming Campaign wins the Grand Prix in the Euro Effies; Jock Elliott, Ogilvy’s Chairman Emeritus, dies in his sleep in Westchester County, NY.
2006 – Neo@Ogilvy Launches Globally; Ogilvy Group UK 100 yrs; Dove’s “The Campaign for Real Beauty” wins the 2006 Grand Effie Award.
2007 – Ogilvy Introduces OgilvyAction; Ogilvy North America Appoints Chief Digital Officer; Rory Sutherland Named Jury President for Cannes Direct Lions
2008 - The 25th anniversary of OgilvyInteractive

References

Obituary of David Ogilvy in The New York Times

Profile of Shelly Lazarus in The Economist

External links

• Ogilvy & Mather
• OgilvyOne Worldwide
• Ogilvy Public Relations
• Ogilvy and Mather UK
• OgilvyAction
• OgilvyHealthworld
• Ogilvy Middle East
• Join The Ogilvy Group on LinkedIn!