Ogilvy & Mather UK is offering individuals the opportunity to gain invaluable hands-on experience and qualifications through its new Apprenticeship scheme. The scheme, one of the first of its kind in the advertising industry, is offering seven year long Digital Project Apprentice positions across the group. To apply visit the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) website or email careers@ogilvy.com. The closing date for applications is 14th May.

Successful applicants will get involved with digital marketing and advertising projects across the group, working with first class teams to deliver against client briefs, whilst attending college one day a week for their formal training. Successful completion of the year long Apprenticeship will result in an Advanced Apprenticeship in Creative and Digital Media.

Julia Ingall, UK Group HR Director at Ogilvy & Mather commented: “Ogilvy’s experience in the digital advertising space is unrivaled. However, to keep that vantage point we need to keep attracting and training the next generation of talent. Our new Apprenticeship scheme gives talented and enthusiastic individuals the opportunity to develop their careers alongside the best in the industry and further their prospects by pursuing a career in marketing or moving onto further study.”

The Ogilvy Apprenticeship is part of the agency’s drive to engage and attract a diverse range of candidates looking at a career in advertising and marketing. The scheme is supported by skills provider Creative Process.

Apprentices will also participate in the Creative Channels project run by EMI Music of which Ogilvy & Mather UK is a founding member. The project aims to create inspiring learning experiences for young people by getting the brands involved to hold masterclasses and experience days relating to their area of expertise. Other companies involved include Channel 4, BBC and Thomson Reuters.

To apply go to http://www.digital-apprentice.co.uk/blog/ogilvy-digital-project-apprentice-with-ogilvy-group-holdings/

Ogilvy Public Relations announced today the appointment of Phil Reay-Smith in the newly created role Head of Media for Ogilvy PR/London.

Joining from ITV where he served as Consumer Editor of Daybreak, Reay-Smith brings more than a decade of newsroom experience and writing for national newspapers. An experienced journalist and story-teller, Reay-Smith provides Ogilvy PR with superior understanding of what news editors require and how Ogilvy’s clients can engage more effectively with them. In his new role, Reay-Smith will be a key member of the London leadership team, and alongside the recently appointed MD (Michael Frohlich), will be responsible for building on the company’s recent success and driving its continued growth.

Reay-Smith’s key remit will be to improve how the agency works with the media by developing effective strategies and programmes which demonstrate Ogilvy’s media prowess.  His extensive background in broadcast will address the increasing need for companies to become content creators, with visual content now recognised as a key form of mass consumer engagement.

Michael Frohlich, UK Managing Director said:

“Media Relations is a core product offering for Ogilvy PR and Phil will play a vital role in ensuring the quality, creativity and effectiveness of our offering. Media relations are a critical part of our growing and ambitious company as we continue to drive influence at an ever increasing scale. We are excited to have a senior media figure join us with such impressive contacts across broadcasting and beyond, who is skilled in formulating stories and pitching them to a variety of audiences.”

About his appointment, Reay-Smith said:

“Having worked closely and regularly with PR teams as Consumer Editor at Daybreak, moving into communications has been a long term career goal, and I am thrilled to be joining such a globally-recognised company at a time where their momentum is so high.”

Reay-Smith’s appointment is effective immediately, adding to Ogilvy PR’s leadership team which recently saw the appointment of Michael Frohlich to UK Managing Director.

OgilvyOne UK, leading a consortium called ‘the 12^th Floor’, has been appointed lead agency for the British Airways Global Creative Technology Business following a competitive pitch. The agencies will handle the airlines’ Digital Innovation, Strategy, eCommerce, Retail & Direct Sales, Social, Display, Mobile and regional tactical marketing. OgilvyOne UK already holds the British Airways Global Customer Engagement Business.

This latest win further underlines OgilvyOne’s strength in the digital space. The account will be hubbed out of London with a team in New York, supported by digital strategists from across the network.

OgilvyOne UK took a unique approach to the brief by creating a new model ‘the 12^th Floor’ to meet British Airways’ bespoke creative technology and ecommerce needs. Under the leadership of OgilvyOne UK, the 12^th Floor brings together leading industry digital specialists eCommera (ecommerce retail consulting and data experts), Imano (specialist independent mobile agency), Ravensbourne (innovation and design college) and Decision Technology (behavioural scientists and academics), to create a consortium team with the capabilities and expertise required to deliver against the brief.

Building on the behavioural economics agenda championed by O&M’s vice-chairman Rory Sutherland over the last two years, #OgilvyChange will have the largest, most active community of behavioural experts in the world, available exclusively for Ogilvy clients. O&M’s Director of Strategy Integration, Jez Groom, will oversee the practice along with Rory.

Rory Sutherland, vice-chairman, Ogilvy & Mather UK commented: “One of the first things Drayton Bird taught me as a 23-year-old direct marketing copywriter was that you should ‘start with the coupon’. Over twenty years later, I am still following his advice. In looking at any marketing problem, it pays to start by designing the behaviour you want to change, or by designing the choice you want someone to make… and then to work backwards from there. If you get this last point wrong, nothing else you do, however clever, will make any difference. On the other hand, if you get this part right, the effects can be spectacular.

What we are now discovering through Behavioural Economics is that the way people choose and act in such ‘decisive moments’ is deeply affected by forces which often defy logic and which are usually undetectable by most market researchers. The result is that marketers have suffered from a significant blind spot in their understanding of human behaviour. Removing this area of blindness should significantly improve the predictive and persuasive power of a wide range of marketing activity.”

Jez Groom, Director of Strategy Integration commented: “Whilst the public sector has been using behavioural economics techniques for some time, this approach is increasingly being adopted by the private sector and for good reason. Understanding how small nuances can influence the way people react is the key to unlocking significant marketing value – often at disproportionate cost.”

#OgilvyChange in London will consult with a panel of behavioural economics experts consisting of leading professors from the London School of Economics and Warwick University.

For further information visit www.ogilvychange.com or follow @OgilvyChange on Twitter.

Ogilvy & Mather UK has appointed Leo Ryan as Group Head of Social. Leo brings with him a wealth of experience having spent 16 years working in digital both client and agency side. In this newly created role, Leo will lead the new Social@Ogilvy practice in London, working closely with the Social@Ogilvy UK Working Council to accelerate the adoption of social media solutions across all of the agency’s disciplines. Leo will report to Paul O’Donnell, Chairman at O&M UK and the board.

Prior to this appointment, Leo was the social lead on the Ford WPP team at Ogilvy PR, responsible for overseeing Ford’s social media programme across Europe, and spent the previous year (2010) at DraftFCB developing the agency’s social media insights programme. In 2006, Leo was one of the founding partners of RMMLondon, one of the UK’s first specialist digital and social media planning agencies, with clients including Sony Consumer Electronics, the Discovery Channel and Diageo.

Leo’s experience in social began in 2005 when he worked at Tonic, an independent boutique agency as the digital planner on the award winning Sony Bravia Balls campaign, one of the first marketing activities that was picked up and amplified through public sharing.

Paul O’Donnell, Chairman at Ogilvy & Mather UK commented: “Leo has an innate understanding of social and digital marketing and how companies need to execute at the next level, and will play a key role as we look to bring the benefit of Social@Ogilvy to our clients. Leo’s background in digital planning means he understands the strategic importance of integrating the right digital elements and social technologies for clients’ businesses. I am confident that clients and colleagues will benefit enormously from Leo’s expertise.”

Leo Ryan commented: “My years in specialist digital agencies and client side have shown that digital and now social is integral across clients’ businesses. To be able to deliver against that requirement, social needs to sit within a network of cross -discipline professionals who can understand and impact on every aspect of a business. That’s the opportunity we have with social through the agencies that comprise the Ogilvy Group.”

Social@Ogilvy is a worldwide practice connecting all of the agency’s social media experts to deliver solutions across all areas of business.

Continue at Campaign UK

Campaign Magazine has named OgilvyOne UK Direct Agency of the Year 2011. This is the second year running the agency has won the award, and the third time in five years.

Campaign said that OgilvyOne had proven itself to be the most impressive agency in direct marketing and cited OgilvyOne’s creative product as going from strength to strength with impressive campaigns for clients including British Airways, British Gas, IBM, Freggo, Dove and Bupa.

The judges also praised the agency’s impressive record as the most awarded DM shop in 2011, winning at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, taking two Campaign Big Awards and an impressive 11 Direct Marketing Association Awards, including five golds – three more than any other agency.

Campaign Magazine, the influential marketing trade publication, has named Ogilvy & Mather runner up Network of the Year, in a closely contested competition.

The judges praised O&M’s investment in creative talent, which resulted in a hugely successful year at Cannes Lions 2011, the 100th anniversary of founder David Ogilvy’s birth, winning 12 golds, 17 silvers and 32 bronze lions.

The judges also noted the many pivotal hires the agency has made this year, primarily on the creative front including Gerry Human in Ogilvy & Mather UK, John Jakubowski in the Asia-Pacific region, Ivan Gonzales in Ogilvy Mexico, Alfonso Marian in OgilvyOne New York and Graham Fink in Ogilvy China.

Campaign Magazine also cited the agency’s continued ambition in Asian markets, noting its footprint in emerging markets with 4,000 staff working in China alone, spread across 17 offices, and as a market leader in India. The client list in this region includes Kraft, BP, Motorola and more recently Google.

Other notable new-business wins in 2011 included Grant Thornton (global), Gap (US), Europcar and Diageo (pan-Europe), and Coca- Cola (Latin America).

The agency also picked up two of the biggest global pitches of 2011 winning the SC Johnson mandate and Philips.

All in all, a great end to 2011 and promising start to 2012.

OgilvyOne and Neo@Ogilvy picked up 11 awards at the 2011 DMA Awards, winning twice as many gold’s as any other agency and more awards in total overall.

There were 4 gold’s and a silver for Freggo’s ‘Taste Experience’ campaign, a gold and a bronze for British Airway’s SME campaign, a silver for IBM Predictions and a silver and bronze for its Dove Body Language Facebook app in conjunction with Ogilvy & Mather Advertising.

Neo@Ogilvy won a silver for its campaign for the Disaster Emergency Committee.

Paul O’Donnell, Chairman, commented: “We have a firm commitment to invest in training and help nurture the stars of tomorrow. Ogilvy fellowships provide a unique opportunity for talented individuals to learn about the different companies within the Ogilvy group, and get an idea of the breadth of skills they’ll need to develop for their careers to flourish.”

Applications close on Monday 10th January 2012 and successful applicants will start at the agency in November 2012.

Visit www.ogilvyfellowship.co.uk for more information.