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By Kevin Whitlock

The Power 100, published every year in Marketing Direct magazine, is the direct marketing industry’s equivalent of the Oscars, aiming to recognise “the most influential and successful direct marketers” of the past 12 months.

This year’s list, published in the May 2008 issue (out now), is broken down into a number of categories: Top 20 Agency Players; Top 20 Clients; Top 15 Data Players; Top 10 Digital DM Players; Top 10 Telemarketers; Top 10 Printers and Mailers; Top 5 Postal and Doordrop Players; and a new category, Top 10 Networkers.

OgilvyOne London’s CEO Mike Dodds and executive creative director Colin Nimick were joint No.2 in the Agency list. 

This is what the magazine said:

“What a year OgilvyOne has had. It triumphed in the contest for British Gas, one of the few big DM pitches of 2007; scooped the Campaign Direct Grand Prix for the second year running for Cancer Research UK; brought home the UK’s only Cannes Direct Gold; and was named Campaign‘s Direct Agency of the Year. The combination of Dodds’ leadership and account handling skills and Nimick’s creative aptitude has proved scale is no barrier to success.

“Dodds has been on a crusade to shed OgilvyOne of its ‘factory’ reputation. His reward was promotion to chief executive. He then elevated Annette King to managing director. It is said that it was Dodds’ ability at keeping relationships alive that contributed to the British Gas triumph, as Dodds knew its then marketing director, Amanda MacKenzie, from her days at BT.”

Elsewhere, Ogilvy Group UK vice-chairman (and former executive creative director of OgilvyOne) Rory Sutherland made no.7 in the Networkers list; and several of our clients, including Rachel Bristow (Unilever), Sara Bennison (BT), Natasha Hill (CR-UK) and Gail Parker-Renwick (British Gas Energy) took up residence  in the Top 20 Clients rankings. 

For the full write-up, visit www.brandrepublic.com/marketingdirect

By Kevin Whitlock

Just before the smoking ban came into place last July, we created a campaign for our client Cancer Research UK entitled “Welcome to the Great Indoors”.  During the course of the various discussions we had while researching and executing the campaign, one question kept coming up: “What’s going to happen to all those old ashtrays?”

A good question, and one that nobody seemed to have an answer to. Everyone just assumed, with a shrug, that they’d end up gathering dust in cupboards or clogging up landfill sites.

That wasn’t on, so we decided to do something about it. So we decided to transform all those unwanted receptacles into something that would be of social benefit: an initiative that would turn the negative associations of an ashtray into a more environmentally-friendly positive; and raise some money for our client into the bargain.

Creatives Rod (Broomfield) and Taf (Mark Davies) undertook the onerous task of collecting as many newly unemployed ashtrays as pub landlords across London would donate. Specially-branded “Vase” bags were used (see picture at top)

We then comissioned renowned master glass maker Anthony Stern (www.anthonysternglass.com) and asked him if he could recycle them into flower vases. One chilly winter morning we went to Anthony’s studio in Battersea to film the man in action. 

What we ended up with was a series of exquisitely-crafted, individually signed and numbered vases – each of them different. Rod, Taf and the guys from the Ogilvy Group Studio designed and made a booklet – detailing the creation of the vases – and a gorgeous box to put the vases in.

As part of an ongoing process, these vases are being auctioned on eBay via CR-UK’s “shop”  (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Cancer-Research-UK-Shop) to raise money for the charity. All monies raised go to CR-UK.

Click on the link below to see a short film about the making of the vases (Neil Eveley from Domain here at Ogilvy filmed and edited it).
 

Please welcome our latest recruit – new business manager Jodie Barr.

Working with OgilvyOne London’s deputy MD and head of new business Sam Williams-Thomas, Jodie will also be responsible for co-ordinating our awards entries – given OgilvyOne’s record in both these areas over the past couple of years, she should be busy in the coming months.

Jodie joins us from DM agency Archibald Ingall Stretton, where she was new business account manager.  Prior to that she held a similar role at new business agency Teeming, and also worked in account management at various agencies in her native Western Australia, including JDA and The Brand Agency. 

A keen golfer and socialiser, Jodie also managed her own successful  food and beverage business back in Aus.