NEW YORK – Marking a return to a traditional New York-based center of power, Ogilvy & Mather has tapped John Seifert as its new worldwide CEO. Seifert succeeds Miles Young effective immediately and will also assume Young’s position as worldwide chairman beginning on September 1.
Prior to being given these new duties, Seifert had been serving as CEO of Ogilvy North America, but the agency expects to name a replacement for him in that position.
Young is leaving Ogilvy and the world of advertising after first joining the agency in 1983. He is poised to accept an administrative position at his alma mater, Oxford University.
For his part, 57-year-old Seifert joined O&M as a summer intern in 1979 and has spent his entire 37-year career at the agency. He has been part of Ogilvy’s worlwide executive committee since 2009.
Since word leaked in June 2015 that Young would be departing, Ogilvy parent company WPP has been working with Young to consider replacement candidates from both within and outside the agency. Ensuring a continuity in Ogilvy leadership was a deciding factor in choosing the CEO, according to Young. “The reason we chose John was he epitomizes the classic Ogilvy values. The critical thing about this brand is the culture behind it. (I’ve told Seifert:) ‘Don’t skimp on that.'”
When Englishman Young succeeded Shelly Lazarus as global CEO of Ogilvy in 2008, the move was then viewed as a break from concentrating the agency’s power in New York and embracing a larger global view. After all, the 61-year-old Young first established himself in London, then throughout Europe, before being appointed chairman of Asia Pacific of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide in 1995.
With Seifert now assuming the post of CEO, it is a reinforcement of the high relevance of Ogilvy & Mather’s American operations. It also shines a light on executives like Seifert who have developed close relationships with multinational clients such as American Express and BP.
Recognizing the challenges that a global company like O&M is facing, new worldwide CEO Seifert says, “What I think is unique about Ogilvy is we are at a moment when much of the world is saying: ‘We have great respect and admiration for their first 60 years as a company. And we have very high ambition for them in the future. We’re not sure whether they are going to be the great agency that they have been in the past.’”
Seifert adds that, “this is a unique moment to prove over the next 12 to 36 months that we are a brand and a company for the future, not just a great agency of the past.” He also says that he’ll be sticking with the worldwide executive committee’s “very robust agenda.” More specifically: “Nothing is more important than the work. In this new digital age we need to build client business plans as they relate to the modern business environment. … I wouldn’t trade O&M’s assets for those at any other company. The trick is to manage with agility so we can stay focused on the future and be prepared for what’s coming.”
