• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, June 5, 2018

In a bid to streamline and simplify its offering going forward, Ogilvy today unveiled a major rebranding effort that was eighteen months in the making.

The agency, behind iconic campaigns like American Express’ “Don’t Leave Home Without It” and more recently the Dove Beauty campaign-- is calling the effort a “re-founding” and it’s driven in part by client demands for less complexity in the agency relationships.

It’s the latest big step by a WPP entity to reposition in order to adapt to changing client needs. Several of the holding company’s agencies have merged, such as media agencies MEC and Maxus (into Wavemaker). In January five branding and design firms were consolidated into a new entity called Superunion.

A month later PR shops Burson-Marsteller and Cohn Wolfe were merged. Even Ogilvy has undergone some recent streamlining: last year its digital media operation Neo was folded into the Mindshare.

And like Neo, Ogilvy is now doing away with all of its subbrands—such as Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, OgilvyOne and Ogilvy Public Relations—and putting them under the single unified The Ogilvy Group brand, with a common identity, client service model and P&L.  

“This has been an 18-month journey for our brand and the largest transformation in the history of our agency,” stated John Seifert, CEO, The Ogilvy Group. “To meet the changing needs of our clients, we’re taking a bold step to redefine our company and build a new model for our industry, which we helped to create over 70 years ago.”

The Group’s corporate structure is shifting from a matrix-managed holding company of sub-brands to one brand represented by twelve crafts and six core capabilities. The crafts include  creative, strategy, delivery, client service, data, finance, technology, talent, business development, marketing & communication, administrative, and production.

The agency capabilities are brand strategy, advertising, customer engagement and commerce, pr and influence, digital transformation, and partnerships.

One sub-brand, OgilvyRed will provide the foundation for an expanded consulting offering called Ogilvy Consulting designed to help clients with digital transformation consulting, growth, business design and innovation.

The makeover also includes a new website, logo and design system. A new training operation called Connect is also being put into place.

Also new: a formalized global managing partnership structure.  The agency said that is designed to “ensure that the diversity of our leadership – across markets, capabilities, and generations – better represents our brand for the greater good of the company today and tomorrow.”

The goal is to have 50% of the agency’s top leadership roles filled by women over the next two years, up from the current 36%.