Amid the flood of agency mergers, Ogilvy One is a raft

Sometimes it can feel a bit like we’re drowning in agency mergers. So, imagine my delight to read of the return of Oglivy One – a single, recognisable raft floating towards us while lots of logs are going in the opposite direction.

My colleague Alison Weissbrot, editor of Campaign US, broke the story earlier this week with the shocking detail that there will now be a gap between the two words. RIP OgilvyOne. I’m barely used to the C in (Essence)Mediacom being lowercase but, hey, change is growth.

Before I go on, I would like to say my point here is not to denigrate any of the mergers in particular. In a converging world, I can understand the rationale of bringing disciplines together. And even the need to deliver efficiencies in a challenging market. I hope they all flourish in their new form. But, I am sometimes confounded by agency leaders’ willingness to forgo the asset value of their brands given their experience in building, well, brands.

After all, WPP, the owner of Ogilvy, as it happens, took a £633m write-down on the value of Wunderman Thompson and Y&R after creating the mega shop officially called “the world’s largest creative company” or VML for short. I wrote a feature examining some of this in 2017 in the context of acquisitions, for that is what the merging WPP networks are, purchases for a wire and plastic shell. 

But it wasn’t just that something is coming back when so much is being lost that made me feel something. It was the fact that Ogilvy One was returning. The agency was always notable for its creative pedigree and was a huge presence in my early career at Campaign, far overshadowing its advertising sister. Campaign named OgilvyOne Direct Agency of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2012. I can’t imagine how many times I wrote about its on-off relationship with British Airways. Those of you who weren't around should read up on “Magic of flying”, which won a Grand Prix at Cannes Lions and the Campaign Big Awards, as well as a yellow Pencil at D&AD. 

Former global Ogilvy chief executive John Seifert retired the brand, which dates back to 1972, in 2017 when he reorganised Ogilvy into a single P&L. If anything, Ogilvy was the OG of WPP network mergers. Seifert’s replacement, Andy Main, implemented a further restructure in 2020, putting the division’s capabilities into Ogilvy Experiences, one of four units for the network. Now, the brand is back, although it continues to be fully embedded in the Ogilvy network – no one is giving up on integration just yet. 

Clare Lawson will run Ogilvy One in EMEA as chief executive and is also in charge of Ogilvy One in the UK and chief client officer for Ogilvy One globally. She has a triple reporting line to Patou Nuytemans, the EMEA chief executive of Ogilvy, Fiona Gordon, the chief executive of Ogilvy UK, and Kent Wertime, global chief executive of Ogilvy One. It'll be a complicated role, but Lawson has the experience (of the space and agency) to navigate it with precision

“What made OgilvyOne special, and makes Ogilvy One special,” Lawson says. “Is that it is a creatively led customer experience offering, and that's what the industry and our clients are crying out for.” 

There are great creative businesses working in this space – not least Rapp, Campaign’s UK Customer Engagement Agency of the Year – but the return of Ogilvy One should be a net positive for all. The industry is moving towards greater personalisation and creativity will ensure it capitalises on the opportunity. How we maintain the fame-building potential of broadcast media is an occupation of mine I'll save for another day. 

I am looking forward to watching the journey Ogilvy One and the clients that hop on board take as they navigate the currents ahead.

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Maisie McCabe is the UK editor of Campaign