Product details

Faced with the challenge of serving clients with increasingly global needs, Ogilvy Direct, the direct marketing agency of advertising firm Ogilvy and Mather, underwent an intensive integration process. Through the use of integration mechanisms such as task forces, a world wide board structure, a proprietary methodology called customer ownership and a knowledge database called Truffles, management successfully transformed the business from a series of fiefdoms to an integrated global services operation. In 1999, as an outward sign of its internal transformation, the company was re-branded as OgilvyOne. However, during the integration process, OgilvyOne faced a trade-off between preserving the creative, chaotic atmosphere that characterised the fragmented company and the integration of services necessary to provide business relevant global solutions to its clients. This case describes the integration process including the integration of internal divisions, regional offices and newly acquired interactive media firms into OgilvyOne and the management of the tension between creativity and financial performance.