• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, January 29, 2017

Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide CEO John Seifert announced a number of new organizational and talent moves Friday, which collectively represent the biggest changes he’s instituted since being named the global leader of the WPP agency network a year ago.

On the talent front, Lou Aversano was promoted to CEO of Ogilvy USA. Aversano was previously CEO of Ogilvy East and will now oversee the agency’s operations in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston and Denver, as well as specialty units FKH (healthcare), Effective UI (web design) and Leopard (B2B) as an integrated business group under a single P&L.

Carla Hendra, who established and leads OgilveyRed, a unit focused on strategic branding and marketing has been tasked with leading two the agency’s “most important next chapter priorties,” Seifert stated in a memo to staffers. Those initiatives include the agency’s digital transformation across its global network and developing a plan for its own global health and wellness network.

Seifert also told the troops in his memo that Jennifer Risi, a senior executive at Ogilvy PR, and head of its “media influence” team has been appointed Chief Communications Officer at the agency. She’ll now report to Lauren Crampsie, the agency’s global CMO. “Our ambition,” wrote Seifert, is “to shape a ‘One Ogilvy’ branded marketing function that builds our brand and creative reputation as a global enterprise, and helps accelerate each market’s next chapter transformation strategy.” He added that the effort was “all in service to our ‘Make Brands Matter’ brand purpose.”

Seifert also disclosed a new function he dubbed “Ogilvy Delivery,” which will be overseen by Gunther Schumacher as Chief Delivery Officer. “Our next chapter puts clients at the center of our business strategy and operating structure,” Seifert wrote. “However, there are no brilliant  ideas or differentiated client experiences without flawless execution. Simply put, without world-class delivery we will not be able to produce great work and deliver the value that our clients seek from their marketing investments.” Schumacher will oversee the agency’s program management office, production capabilities and technology model.

Schumacher had previously overseen the agency’s IBM account and he is succeeded in that role by Todd Krugman who has been named President, Global Brand Services, IBM.

Also on the account side, Philip Heimann has been promoted to Global Managing Director, overseeing the SC Johnson account, and Jamie Prieto has added American Express to his remit. He also oversees the global Kimberly-Clark and Lenovo accounts.