Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging with a New York City agency that was founded in 1948 by David Ogilvy.[3]
The agency is part of the WPP Group global agency network. It provides services in five areas: growth and innovation; advertising, brand and content; public relations and influence; experience; and health.[4] It also operates a strategy division called Ogilvy Consulting.
History
Foundation
The agency was founded in London in 1850, when Edmund Charles Mather began an advertising agency on Fleet Street.[5] By the 1860s, Mather had a U.S. branch called Mather & Abbott at 335 Broadway, New York City. After Mather's death in 1886, his son, Harley Lawrence Mather, partnered with Herbert Oakes Crowther, and the London agency became known as Mather & Crowther.[6] The agency pioneered newspaper advertising, which was in its infancy, due to a loosening of tax restrictions; and educated manufacturers about the efficacy of advertising while producing "how-to" manuals for the nascent advertising industry.[6] The company grew in prominence in the 1920s after creating leading non-branded advertising campaigns such as "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" and "Drinka Pinta Milka Day".[6][7]
In 1921, Mather and Crowther hired Francis Ogilvy as a copywriter. Ogilvy eventually became the first non-family member to chair the agency. When the agency launched the AGA cooker, a Swedish cook stove, Francis composed letters in Greek to appeal to British public schools, the appliance's best sales leads. Francis also helped his younger brother, David Ogilvy, secure a position as an AGA salesman.[8] The younger Ogilvy was so successful at selling the cooker, he wrote a sales manual for the company in 1935 called "The Theory and Practice of Selling the Aga Cooker". It was later called "probably the best sales manual ever written", by Fortune magazine.[9]
David Ogilvy sent the manual to Francis who was persuaded to hire him as a trainee. Ogilvy began studying advertising, particularly campaigns from America, which he viewed as the gold standard.[10] In 1938, David Ogilvy convinced Francis to send him to the United States on sabbatical to study American advertising. After a year, Ogilvy presented 32 "basic rules of good advertising" to Mather & Crowther.[11] Over the next ten years, Ogilvy worked in research at the Gallup polling company, worked for British Intelligence during World War II, and then spent a few years farming among the Amish community in Pennsylvania.
In 1948, David Ogilvy proposed that Mather & Crowther and another U.K. agency, S.H. Benson, partner to create an American advertising agency in New York City to support British advertising clients. The agencies each invested US$40,000 in the venture but insisted Ogilvy find a more experienced American to run it. David Ogilvy recruited Anderson Hewitt from J. Walter Thompson to serve as president and to supervise sales. Ogilvy would serve as secretary, treasurer, and research director. Along with their British sponsors, which held a controlling interest, Hewitt mortgaged his house and invested $14,000 in the agency and Ogilvy invested $6,000.[12]
Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather
On September 23, 1948, David Ogilvy opened his New York agency as Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson, & Mather on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. Initially, Mather and Crowther and S.H. Benson gave the agency four clients that had small advertising budgets and were relatively unknown in the United States: Wedgwood China, British South African Airways, Guinness, and Bovril.[13]
Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson, & Mather's first account was securing magazine advertising space for Wedgwood.[14] The agency had its first successful ad with Ogilvy's concept "The Guinness Guide to Oysters", which was followed by several other similar food and Guinness pairing guides.[15] The first large client was Sunoco (then called Sun Oil), procured by Hewitt in February 1949.
Ogilvy, Benson & Mather
Disagreements between Hewitt and Ogilvy, particularly about creative direction and who should run the agency, resulted in Ogilvy's resignation in 1953. The agency's backers supported Ogilvy, leading to Hewitt's resignation and the agency reopening as Ogilvy, Benson & Mather in 1954. Ogilvy hired retired Benton & Bowles executive Esty Stowell in 1956 to handle operations and non-creative functions.
During the 1950s, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather became known for its successful campaigns. The agency, mainly under Ogilvy's creative direction, built a reputation for "quality" advertising, which was defined by its use of well-researched "long copy", large photographs, and clean layouts and typography. Ogilvy believed advertising's purpose was to sell through information and persuasion, as opposed to entertaining.[19]
That same year, the agency nearly doubled in size after winning the Shell Oil account.[20] The agency agreed to work for Shell on a fee basis rather than the traditional commission model and became one of the first major advertising agencies to do so.[21]
Ogilvy & Mather
In reaction to the growth of international advertising, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather formed an equal partnership with Mather & Crowther in November 1964.[22] Under the terms of the partnership, the two agencies became subsidiaries of a new parent company called Ogilvy & Mather, which was headquartered in New York. In January 1965, both changed their names to Ogilvy & Mather and the parent company became known as Ogilvy & Mather International Inc.
During the 1970s, Ogilvy & Mather acquired numerous other agencies: including S.H. Benson, one of its original sponsors, in 1971; Carson/Roberts in 1971;[23] Scali, McCabe, Sloves in 1976; and Cone & Weber in 1977.[24] Another acquisition, Hodes-Daniel, resulted in the establishment of the agency's direct-response service, called Ogilvy & Mather Direct, in 1976. It was renamed OgilvyOne Worldwide in 1997.[15] The agency's growth through acquisitions was not led by Ogilvy, who feared the differing philosophies of the acquired agencies would undermine Ogilvy & Mather's culture and advertising beliefs, which he called the "True Church".
1980s
The agency opened its public relations division, Ogilvy & Mather Public Relations, in 1980.[27]
The next year, Ogilvy & Mather established the Interactive Marketing Group and became the first major agency to establish an interactive capability.[28][29] In December 1983, David Ogilvy retired as Creative Head.[30]
In 1985, Ogilvy & Mather International was renamed as the Ogilvy Group Inc. The group included three divisions: Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, a new name for all Ogilvy & Mather offices including Ogilvy & Mather Direct and Ogilvy & Mather Public Relations; Scali McCabe Sloves Group; and several independent associate agencies, such as Cole & Weber. Kenneth Roman, president of Ogilvy & Mather United States, was named president of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide.[31] and was promoted to chairman in 1987.
1990s
In 1992, Charlotte Beers replaced Graham Phillips as chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. Philips remained as vice chairman. Beers was recruited from the Tatham, Laird & Kudner advertising agency and was the first "outsider" to lead Ogilvy & Mather.[36] She was also the first woman to lead a major international agency.[37] Beers introduced the concept of "brand stewardship" to the agency, a philosophy of brand-building over time.[24] She is also credited with helping Ogilvy & Mather bring in new business after a downturn.[37]
In 1994, then–North America president Shelly Lazarus and Beers helped win the entire global account of information technology corporation IBM for the agency.[24] Worth an estimated $500 million in billings, it was the largest account shift in the history of advertising.
2000s
Ogilvy purchased the Federalist Group, a Republican lobbying firm, in 2005.[40] The Federalist Group subsequently changed its name to Ogilvy Government Relations.[41] The firm is known for lobbying against climate change mitigation efforts on behalf of some of the biggest oil and chemical groups in the world.[42]
In 2005, Shona Seifert and Thomas Early, two former directors of Ogilvy & Mather, were convicted of one count of conspiring to defraud the government and nine counts of filing false claims for Ogilvy, over-billing for advertising work done for the United States Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) account. The agency was hired by the ONDCP in 1998 to create anti-drug ads aimed at adolescents.[43] At the time, it was the largest social marketing contract in history.[44] Ogilvy & Mather repaid $1.8 million to the government to settle a civil suit based on the same billing issues.
2010s
In 2010, the agency established OgilvyRED, a specialty strategic consultancy.[50] In 2011, Ogilvy Government Relations ceased being part of the Ogilvy network, and would later rebrand as OGR to avoid confusion.[54] In June 2013, OgilvyAction, the agency's activation unit, merged with other WPP-owned properties—G2 Worldwide and JWTAction—to form Geometry Global, an activation network that operates in 56 markets.[55] Ogilvy's production division, RedWorks Worldwide, merged with production company Hogarth Worldwide, forming Hogarth & Ogilvy in March 2015 to serve the production needs of all of WPP's agencies.[56]
The agency was named both the Cannes Lions "Network of the Year" and CLIO "Network of the Year" for four consecutive years, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.[57]
2020s
In June 2020, the company announced that Andy Main would be succeeding John Seifert as CEO.[87] He restructured Ogilvy's services under five core business units: Advertising, Experience, Public Relations, Health, and Consulting.[88]
Notable clients the agency acquired in 2021 included vodka brand Absolut (March),[89] car rental holding company Enterprise Holdings (April),[90] The New York Philharmonic (July),[91] TD Bank Group (September),[92]
Major work
Early ads
One of the agency's first accounts was Guinness, which tasked it with introducing the beer to an American audience. In 1950, "The Guinness Guide to Oysters" appeared as a magazine advertisement that listed nine kinds of oysters and their characteristics. The advertisement was successful; and several other pairing guides, including those on birds and cheeses, followed it.[15][101]
In 1951, "The Man in the Hathaway Shirt", an advertisement created for C. F. Hathaway Company, was first published in The New Yorker. It immediately increased sales for the company, and more ads followed. Each ad featured George Wrangel, a middle-aged man with a moustache and an eye patch. The eye patch was a prop found by David Ogilvy to give the ad what he called "story appeal". Ambassador Lewis Douglas, who wore an eye patch, inspired the concept.[18][102]
Inspiration for Mad Men
Ogilvy has been cited as a major inspiration for the fictional ad agency featured in the television series Mad Men.[127][128] Longtime Ogilvy employee and executive Jane Maas was cited as the inspiration for the Mad Men main character Peggy Olson.[128]
Awards
In September 2020, Ogilvy was named Network of the Year by industry organization Design and Art Direction. D&AD also awarded a coveted Black Pencil to Burger King's "Moldy Whopper" campaign, which was a collaboration between Ogilvy and two other agencies.[129][130]
In June 2022 and June 2024, Ogilvy was named Network of the Year by the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.[131][132]
Controversies
An online video created by Ogilvy & Mather U.K. as viral marketing for the Ford SportKa hatchback was disseminated via email in 2004, despite being rejected by Ford of Europe. The 40-second video, which showed a lifelike computer-generated cat being decapitated by the car's sunroof, led to criticisms from bloggers and animal rights groups. Both companies apologized for its release and launched investigations into how the video was leaked.[133][134]
In 2014, Ogilvy India created "Bounce Back", a campaign for Indian mattress company Kurl-On that illustrated the stories of well-known figures who "bounced back" from adversity. The low point of each narrative arc showed the person rebounding off of a Kurl-On mattress. One of the ads featured Malala Yousafzai and depicted her being shot. The ad was criticized in the media, and Ogilvy & Mather issued a public apology to Yousafzai and her family.[135][136]
See also
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
References
- Laurent Ezekiel Named Global CEO of Ogilvy, Devika Bulchandani Elevated to WPP Chief Operating Officer www.ogilvy.com, 2025-09-05, retrieved 2025-09-09^
- Ogilvy Owler, 2022, retrieved 30 August 2022^
- Company Overview of Ogilvy & Mather Inc.