Andy Berndt, co-president of Ogilvy & Mather's New York office, is heading to Google--where he will oversee a new creative lab, according to a report in
Advertising Age. The news comes as the
search giant continues to deepen its ties with Madison Avenue.
The so-called Google Creative Lab will serve to foster partnerships with members of the marketing, agency, and
entertainment communities, according to the report. Reporting to David Lawee, vice president of marketing at Google, Berndt will be expected to work with agencies to better market Google's brands and
services.
Along with Michelle Bottomley, Berndt was named co-president of Ogilvy New York in May. Berndt was previously managing director of Ogilvy & Mather, New York, where he was responsible
for managing the offices advertising operations, including strategy and planning, account management, finance, human resources and new business. Since joining the WPP Group shop in 1998, Berndt worked
with clients including IBM, Lenovo, Ameritrade and Yahoo.
Cozying up to the advertiser community, Google late last year opened striking new offices in downtown New York City. The intention was to
combine Madison Avenue with Silicon Valley to forge a vast marketing platform, Tim Armstrong, Google's vice president for ad sales, said at the time. New York is key to Google's future, Armstrong
said, because "Google has become a large advertising company."